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charlotte shooting

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According to North Carolina prosecutors, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police Officer Brentley Vinson acted lawfully when he fatally shot African-American Keith Lamont Scott, in September, and will not face charges.

The shooting triggered several nights of protests across the city.

Keith Scott’s family say he was unarmed but police insist he had a gun.

Image source Facebook

Image source Facebook

In the bodycam and dashcam footage of the shooting released by police, it is unclear if there is anything in Keith Scott’s hands.

At a news conference following the ruling on November 30, prosecutors revealed surveillance footage from a nearby shop of Keith Scott showing the apparent outline of holstered gun on his ankle.

The footage shows Keith Scott getting out of his car to go into the shop and then getting back into his car.

Prosecutors say Keith Scott then parked in the car park at the apartment complex, beside officers.

Plainclothes officers had gone to the complex to look for a suspect with an outstanding warrant – not Keith Scott.

Officers say Keith Scott then proceeded to smoke a joint and hold up a semi-automatic hand gun.

Keith Scott then exited the car when officers approached, they say. At that point they deemed Keith Scott a threat and Officer Brentley Vinson fired his weapon.

Keith Scott was pronounced dead later at a local hospital from gunshot wounds to his back and abdomen.

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A video showing the moment Keith Lamont Scott was shot dead by a police officer in Charlotte, North Carolina, has been made public.

The moment was captured on video by Keith Lamont Scott’s wife, who can be heard pleading with officers: “Don’t shoot him!”

In the footage, Rakeyia Scott tells her husband to get out of his car as Charlotte police surround him.

The video does not show the actual shooting, or make clear if Keith Lamont Scott was carrying a gun, as police say.

Officers can be heard urging the black man to “drop the gun” but his wife is heard telling them he is unarmed.

On September 23, a few hundred protestors took to the streets, but the demonstrations was smaller than on the previous three nights.

They chanted “No justice, no peace” and “Release the video” – a call for the police to release their dash-cam and body-cam images of the incident.

North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory has declared a state of emergency in the city, and a midnight curfew has been imposed for a second night running, after rioters looted businesses and threw objects at police on September 20 and 21.

Unnamed police sources told local media and CNN a gun found at the scene was loaded and had Keith Lamont Scott’s fingerprints and DNA on it. But the police have said nothing officially.

Charlotte city leaders have been under mounting pressure to release their footage of this week’s shooting.

Hillary Clinton joined the chorus, adding: “We must ensure justice and work to bridge divides.”

Her campaign team had said the Democratic presidential candidate would visit Charlotte on September 25, but later announced the visit was being postponed until October 2 after discussion with community leaders “as to not impact the city’s resources”.

In the clip, an officer is heard shouting: “Hands up!”

Image source Facebook

Image source Facebook

Keith Lamont Scott cries: “Don’t shoot him. Don’t shoot him. He has no weapon. He has no weapon. Don’t shoot him.”

An officer says: “Don’t shoot. Drop the gun. Drop the gun.”

Rakeyia Scott says: “He doesn’t have a gun. He has a TBI [Traumatic Brain Injury]. He just took his medicine.”

Family lawyers have previously said Keith Lamont Scott suffered head trauma in a car accident last year.

Seconds later shots ring out in the clip, and Keith Lamont Scott rushes forward shouting: “Did you shoot him? He better not be dead!”

Keith Lamont Scott – a 43-year-old father-of-seven – was fatally shot in an apartment complex car park on September 20 by police who were searching for another person wanted for arrest.

There are conflicting accounts of his death – police say Keith Lamont Scott was armed and that a pistol was recovered at the scene; his family says he was holding a book.

His mother, Vernita Scott Walker, told South Carolina broadcaster WCSC he was probably reading the Koran.

She said he read the Islamic holy book every day, often while waiting for his son to get off the bus.

“That’s what he was reading because he loved to read that book,” said Vernita Scott Walker.

At a press conference on September 23, officials defended their refusal to release body-cam and dash-cam video of the shooting.

Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts told reporters: “I do believe the video should be released – the question is on the timing.”

She said the video was “inconclusive” as to whether Keith Lamont Scott was holding a gun.

City Police Chief Kerr Putney said the video alone does not provide sufficient evidence of probable cause for the shooting.

Releasing it without “context” could only inflame the situation, he added.

Critics have accused Charlotte authorities of a lack of transparency, compared with the swift action taken after a police shooting in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where Officer Betty Shelby has been charged.

Charlotte police said they arrested a suspect in September 21 fatal shooting of a protester, Justin Carr, in the city.

The alleged gunman was identified as Rayquan Borum.

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At least 12 officers have been injured during protests sparked by the police shooting of African-American Keith Lamont Scott in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Protesters destroyed marked police cars around the block of flats where the shooting took place, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department tweeted.

One officer was hit in the face with a rock, police said.

On September 20, Keith Lamont Scott, 43, was shot by a black officer and died in hospital.

Image source Facebook

Image source Facebook

Police say Keith Lamont Scott was carrying a gun and posed an “imminent deadly threat”, but relatives told local media he was not holding a weapon but a book.

Demonstrators outraged over the incident blocked streets and police used tear gas, local media reported.

Mayor Jennifer Roberts appealed for calm, and said the shooting of Keith Lamont Scott would be looked into.

“The community deserves answers and full investigation will ensue,” she tweeted.

“Will be reaching out to community leaders to work together.”

The unrest came a day after police in the city of Tulsa, in Oklahoma, said a black man they had killed on September 16 was unarmed.

Hundreds of people have been protesting outside police headquarters there.

Terence Crutcher was walking away with his hands in the air when he was shot by police, footage shows.

In Charlotte, officers had been looking for a different suspect at a block of flats when Keith Lamont Scott was killed, police spokesman Keith Trietley said.

They saw Keith Lamont Scott get out of a car carrying a gun before getting back in, he said. When the officers approached, Keith Lamont Scott got out of the car with the gun again and police opened fire after deeming him a threat.

Keith Lamont Scott was not the suspect police were originally looking for, Keith Trietley confirmed.

Brentley Vinson, the officer who shot Keith Lamont Scott, has been placed on administrative leave as part of police protocol.

A woman claiming to be Keith Lamont Scott’s daughter has contested the police department’s account in a Facebook video, the Charlotte Observer reports.

She says Keith Lamont Scott was unarmed and reading while he was waiting for his son’s school bus and was tasered before being shot four times.

She also said Keith Lamont Scott was disabled. Police have not responded to the claims but say they recovered a gun at the scene.