UPDATE (9/24 6:45 P.M.) – CMPD has released body and dash cam footage of the shooting death of Keith Lamont Scott.
UPDATE (9/24 4:45 P.M.) – CMPD has announced the footage will be released today. Chief Putney began addressing media at just after 4:30 p.m.
Charlotte, N.C. – Charlotte officials are considering releasing footage today of the shooting death of Keith Lamont Scott, which occurred on Sept. 20. The shooting has caused protests and unrest in the city, prompting Gov. McCrory to declare a state of emergency, bringing in the National Guard.
Reporter Joe Bruno tweeted, “The shooting video of #KeithScott is expected to be released today, per sources.”
The shooting video of #KeithScott is expected to be released today, per sources @wsoctv
— Joe Bruno (@JoeBrunoWSOC9) September 24, 2016
They also report that CMPD Chief Kerr Putney will release a statement at 4:30 p.m. today on the shooting.
BREAKING: CMPD Chief Kerr Putney to release statement at 4:30 on officer-involved shooting of Keith Lamont Scott https://t.co/23eC27E0ft
— WSOCTV (@wsoctv) September 24, 2016
Protesters have been calling for the release of dash and body cam footage of the shooting, which the city has been slow to do. There is a sense of urgency, as a new statewide law goes into effect on Oct. 1 that would require a court order to see police footage.
“We are having those conversations right now,” Sandy D’Elosua, a spokeswoman for the North Carolina city, said Saturday morning when asked if the police recordings could be released Saturday, reports CNN.
The Scott family has already viewed the footage and has asked for it to be made public.
Scott’s widow posted her own cellphone video of the shooting, which shows her telling officers her husband doesn’t have a gun, that he has a traumatic brain injury and that he is no danger to them. Officers are heard repeatedly telling Scott to “drop the gun.”
A second video, taken by a bystander, has also come to light.
The debate over whether Scott was armed or not, and whether he advanced towards officers, continues. Many have brought up the fact that North Carolina is an open carry state.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police were at The Village at College Downs, where Scott lived, to serve a warrant to a different individual.
A man at the first night of protests in uptown Charlotte, Justin Carr, was shot and has since died as well. Police have a man in custody for that shooting, Rayquan Borum, 21, but many on the scene maintain that he was shot by police, not by another civilian.
Chief Putney said on Thursday that the video from the previous night’s protest and shooting is being reviewed “and we are investigating that to seek the truth.” Eyewitness videos have emerged showing the scene before and after Carr was shot but none so far seem to show who was responsible.
Protesters are demonstrating not only for Scott but also for Carr and for other victims of police shootings, which has intensified a national debate about use of force, in particular against people of color.
Two other recent police shooting deaths are part of that conversation as well: Daniel Harris and Jonathan Ferrell.
Harris was a deaf man said to be afraid of police, who was shot last month after leading them on a chase. Jonathan Ferrell was an unarmed black man shot in 2013 after crashing his car and looking for help.