Incident Unfolded ‘In Seconds’
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney says the officer who shot and killed Keith Lamont Scott Tuesday afternoon was not wearing a body camera and ignored repeated instructions to drop his gun. Chief Putney would not say if Scott, a father of seven, was pointing the gun at any of the four officers present when he was shot and killed.
Chief Putney at a press conference Wednesday morning described Scott as a “subject” who “exited the vehicle armed with a handgun.” Open carry is legal in North Carolina. Putney says Scott went back into his car and the officers “approached the vehicle to engage the subject.”
He says the police officers gave “loud, clear verbal commands, which were also heard by many of the witnesses.”
“Mr. Scott exited the vehicle armed with a handgun as the officers continued to yell at him to drop it. he stepped out, posing a threat to the officers, and Officer Brentley Vinson subsequently fired his weapon, striking the subject.”
Putney says Scott “was succumbed by his injuries.”
“Our detectives, through their investigation, recovered the firearm that the subject was holding in his hand when he got out of the vehicle,” Putney told reporters. “It was in very close proximity to the subject.”
Police had been on scene to serve a warrant on another person.
Tuesday evening hundreds of protesters took to the streets.
One of Scott’s daughters insisted her father was holding a book, did not own a gun, and was in his car reading the book, waiting for her brother to come home from school.
UPDATE:Â Breaking: Charlotte Police in Riot Gear Using Tear Gas on Protestors (Video)