Wife of Keith Scott, Charlotte Shooting Victim, Filmed Fatal Encounter With Police
Wife of Keith Scott, Charlotte Shooting Victim, Filmed Fatal Encounter With Police
By RICHARD FAUSSET and YAMICHE ALCINDORSEPT. 23, 2016
CHARLOTTE — A cellphone camera video made by the wife of Keith L. Scott before he was fatally shot by police here shows the moments before and after the incident, including the wife’s pleas to her husband to get out of his truck, and her pleas to the police not to shoot him.
But the video, which was given to the Times by attorneys for the family Friday, does not include a view of the shooting itself. Nor does it answer the crucial question of whether Mr. Scott had a gun, as the police have maintained.
Does Scott video bring new facts to light? 7:42
Justin Bamberg, who, along with Eduardo Curry, is representing the family, said in an interview Friday that the video did not prove that the shooting was either justified or unjustified. Rather, he said, it offered “another vantage point” of the incident. He said he hoped the Police Department would release is own videos of the shooting, as protesters have been demanding since it took place Tuesday afternoon.
Approaching Scott video from a legal perspective 5:18
The lawyers said the cellphone video was shot by Rakeyia Scott, Mr. Scott’s wife on Tuesday afternoon. Mr. Scott had parked his car in a visitor’s space in their apartment complex, where he often waited for one of his children to return home on a bus. The police were there to serve a warrant on someone else.
The lawyers said Ms. Scott had come out of the apartment with a cellphone charger for her husband and noticed that police officers were around the truck.
The two-minute-and-12 second video begins with shaking images of grass and the voice, apparently that of an officer, shouting, “Hands Up!”
City officials have refused to release the police video of the shooting, saying they do not want to impede their investigation.
Following is a transcript of the video, which contains offensive language:
OFFICER: Hands up!
RAKEYIA SCOTT: Don’t shoot him. Don’t shoot him. He has no weapon. He has no weapon. Don’t shoot him.
READ MORE: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/24/us/charl...
By RICHARD FAUSSET and YAMICHE ALCINDORSEPT. 23, 2016
CHARLOTTE — A cellphone camera video made by the wife of Keith L. Scott before he was fatally shot by police here shows the moments before and after the incident, including the wife’s pleas to her husband to get out of his truck, and her pleas to the police not to shoot him.
But the video, which was given to the Times by attorneys for the family Friday, does not include a view of the shooting itself. Nor does it answer the crucial question of whether Mr. Scott had a gun, as the police have maintained.
Does Scott video bring new facts to light? 7:42
Justin Bamberg, who, along with Eduardo Curry, is representing the family, said in an interview Friday that the video did not prove that the shooting was either justified or unjustified. Rather, he said, it offered “another vantage point” of the incident. He said he hoped the Police Department would release is own videos of the shooting, as protesters have been demanding since it took place Tuesday afternoon.
Approaching Scott video from a legal perspective 5:18
The lawyers said the cellphone video was shot by Rakeyia Scott, Mr. Scott’s wife on Tuesday afternoon. Mr. Scott had parked his car in a visitor’s space in their apartment complex, where he often waited for one of his children to return home on a bus. The police were there to serve a warrant on someone else.
The lawyers said Ms. Scott had come out of the apartment with a cellphone charger for her husband and noticed that police officers were around the truck.
The two-minute-and-12 second video begins with shaking images of grass and the voice, apparently that of an officer, shouting, “Hands Up!”
City officials have refused to release the police video of the shooting, saying they do not want to impede their investigation.
Following is a transcript of the video, which contains offensive language:
OFFICER: Hands up!
RAKEYIA SCOTT: Don’t shoot him. Don’t shoot him. He has no weapon. He has no weapon. Don’t shoot him.
READ MORE: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/24/us/charl...
As you can see in this video, there is no gun at Brother Scott's feet.