Charlotte reacts to no charges being filed in the Keith Lamont Scott shooting

Mecklenburg District Attorney Andrew Murray announced Wednesday morning he found no legal wrongdoing in the shooting death of Keith Lamont Scott by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Brentley Vinson.

“I’m extremely convinced that Mr. Vinson’s use of deadly force was lawful,” Murray said of the Sept. 20 shooting. He said he ran the evidence past 15 veteran prosecutors and they were unanimous: There was insufficient evidence to charge Vinson.

Murray laid out the evidence at a nearly hour-long press conference and in a 20-page report that was posted to the Mecklenburg DA website.

Some of the key findings in the report:

– “All of the credible, available and believable evidence supports the conclusion that Scott was armed with a gun.” And that gun was in Scott’s hand — bullet in the chamber, cocked and safety off — when he exited the vehicle, according to the report, as officers commanded Scott to drop it at least 10 times.

– “Officer Vinson is the only officer who fired his weapon, and he is the officer who shot Scott.”

– A book was not found in the car, but officers said they saw Scott with marijuana and a pistol in his car before confronting him.

– The State Bureau of Investigation determined that several witnesses who said they saw the shooting didn’t actually see it.

– “After a thorough review, it is my conclusion that Officer Vinson acted lawfully in shooting Scott,” Murray wrote in the report.

Toward the end of the report, Murray writes: “The fact that criminal charges are not appropriate under the law in this particular case does not mean we can dismiss the concerns expressed by those who raised their voices to raise the consciousness of this community. I think it is time that all of us recognize that this is Charlotte, and not everyone experiences the same Charlotte.”

I highly recommend that you read the full report, which you can find here.

Protesters marched through uptown Wednesday night in response to the decision, with speakers saying they wanted to see more police transparency in investigations. The march was largely peaceful — a couple “scuffles” broke out — and as of 9 p.m. three people were arrested for obstructing traffic.

Here are more links to coverage of the decision in the Keith Lamont Scott shooting:

– An overview of the shooting and the report, including an accounting of the events that led up to the shooting.

– A piece-by-piece look at the evidence.

– Watch an exclusive Observer interview with Murray, who said of the aftermath: “It was a false-narrative world that began spinning out of control.”

– “I felt like he was trying to decide who he wanted to shoot first.” A look at Vinson’s interview just one day after the encounter.

– Scott’s lawyers say the confrontation could have ended peacefully.

Find more coverage here.

Many took to Twitter after the decision was announced to share their thoughts. Here’s how Charlotteans reacted on social media Wednesday.

Photos: Diedra Laird/Charlotte Observer; David T. Foster III/Charlotte Observer

This story was originally published November 30, 2016 at 7:21 PM with the headline "Charlotte reacts to no charges being filed in the Keith Lamont Scott shooting."