Wife’s video in police shooting shows moments before man killed

By Adam Bell

The Charlotte Observer

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The New York Times and NBC News said they obtained cellphone video from the wife of Keith Lamont Scott leading up to the moments when he was shot by a Charlotte police officer Tuesday.

She can be heard yelling for the police not to shoot him. The video does not show Scott being shot.

Scott’s wife yelled, “Don’t shoot him. Don’t shoot him.” An officer yells, “Drop the gun.”

“He doesn’t have a gun,” she yelled. “He’s not going to do anything to you guys.”

An officer repeats the command, then Scott’s wife yells, “Keith, get out the car. Keith! Keith! Don’t you do it! Don’t you do it! Keith!”

After what sounded like four shots being fired, Scott’s wife is heard screaming, “Did you shoot him? Did you shoot him? Did you shoot him? He better not be f— dead. He better not be f— dead. I know that f— much. I know that much. He better not be dead!”

An attorney who represents the family, Justin Bamberg, told the Times the video did not prove whether the shooting was justified but said it offered “another vantage point” of the incident.

The release of that video puts additional pressure on authorities to release dash-cam and body-cam video of the shooting that triggered violent protests over several nights.

Earlier Friday, Charlotte authorities were still refusing to release videos, but the police chief said, “It’s a matter of when.”

At a news conference, Chief Kerr Putney said he could not provide additional details about the death of Keith Lamont Scott in a University City apartment complex parking lot because the State Bureau of Investigation has taken over the probe.

Putney said releasing video without the right context could inflame a situation, adding, “The video is not a panacea.”

Indeed, there are conflicting perspectives on it.

Putney has said the videos do not “give me absolute, definitive visual evidence that will confirm a person was pointing a gun,” but the “totality” of the evidence supports the police conclusion that officers confronting Scott faced an imminent, deadly threat.

Police have said a handgun that Scott was holding was recovered near his body. Others had claimed Scott was merely reading a book but no book was recovered, police have said.

Scott’s family has seen the videos. Justin Bamberg, an attorney for Scott’s relatives, said the videos, from dashboard and body cameras worn by CMPD officers showed Scott getting out of his vehicle when ordered to by officers. Scott’s demeanor was calm and nonaggressive, said Bamberg, who called upon CMPD to release the videos publicly.

Mayor Jennifer Roberts said that while she leans toward transparency, she has been convinced to wait on the videos release because evidence in the case is still being gathered. She did not want to jeopardize the case. “I’ve been convinced there’s value in timing,” she said.

Also at the news conference, officials said the midnight-to-6 a.m. curfew that was announced Thursday night will be in place again Friday night. And they announced the arrest of a man in connection with Wednesday’s fatal shooting at one of the protests in uptown Charlotte.

After two nights of violence in the streets Tuesday and Wednesday, Thursday’s protests were largely peaceful. The main exception was when protesters confronted police after marchers briefly blocked Interstate 277.

Roberts said, “Last night was what a lawful demonstration looks like.”

During Wednesday night’s protests, a 26-year-old man, Justin Carr, was fatally shot on East Trade Street. Putney announced the arrest of Rayquan Borum, 21, but said police do not yet know if victim and suspect knew each other.

Gov. Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency for the city Wednesday night, and several hundred members of the National Guard and State Highway Patrol were sent to Charlotte on Thursday. Guardsman, who patrolled near Trade and Tryon streets Thursday evening, were gone from uptown early Friday.

At around 5 a.m. Friday, the state troopers who had guarded the EpiCentre — the site of violent protests and damage overnight Wednesday — had left, replaced with only the normal security guards.

Police presence was limited. Two Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers pulled over in a SUV on Tryon Street to give a homeless person some food.