Updated Saturday, Sept. 24, 5:01 p.m. EDT: The dashcam and body-cam footage has been released in the police shooting death of Keith Lamont Scott.
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Warning: The video contains graphic and disturbing images.
Earlier:
As protests enter the fifth day, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department is releasing the video showing the moment that one of their officers shot and killed Keith Lamont Scott, 43.
As previously reported by The Root, CMPD officers said that they were searching for someone who had outstanding warrants Tuesday afternoon when they saw Scott, with what they believed to be a gun, leave a vehicle.
They claim that Scott then returned to his vehicle and that when they approached him, he not only didn’t follow commands but also “posed an imminent deadly threat to the officers,” which caused Officer Brentley Vinson to open fire.
Eyewitness accounts contradict the police narrative, as does cellphone footage taken by Scott's wife, Rakeyia Scott, in which she can be heard screaming at officers not to shoot her husband because he doesn't have a gun.
Hundreds of people are gathered in Charlotte's Marshall Park today continuing demonstrations. According to our sources on the ground, CMPD officers moved the press conference away from the crowd to Wilkinson Boulevard Police Station.
Authorities are reportedly only releasing partial footage so as not to "jeopardize their investigation."
North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory, who issued a state of emergency and called in the National Guard earlier this week and placed the citizens of Charlotte on a curfew—which many protesters ignored—says that he agrees with the release of the video.
"As governor of North Carolina, I concur with the Charlotte police chief's decision to release the tapes. I have been assured by the State Bureau of Investigation that the release will have no material impact on the independent investigation since most of the known witnesses have been interviewed," the statement read. "We have appreciated the ongoing dialogue and team work between state and city officials to seek public transparency while protecting the integrity of the investigation and the rights of all parties involved in this case."
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