CMPD offers some details in fatal shooting, but questions remain | Charlotte Observer

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police offered some details on what led to a fatal police shooting Tuesday, but left other questions unanswered.

A night of protests and violence in Charlotte began that afternoon, when police were working to serve an outstanding warrant on someone at The Village at College Downs complex in northeast Charlotte, police said.

Keith Lamont Scott was not that person, but police said he was shot after he got out of his vehicle holding a handgun, and ignored orders by officers to drop the weapon.

CMPD’s account:

▪ Officer Brentley Vinson, an African-American officer, shot Scott, who is also black.

▪ Vinson was in plain clothes with a vest with a big CMPD logo on it. He was not wearing a body camera, but uniformed officers at the scene had them, Chief Kerr Putney said.

▪ There were at least three officers at the scene during the fatal confrontation.

▪ There is body-cam and dash-cam video of the incident. Putney said he has seen some of it but did not provide a lot of details. He said it was “a matter of seconds” between the time Scott was ordered to drop the gun and when he was shot.

▪ Putney said Scott’s handgun was recovered near Scott.

▪ Sixteen CMPD officers suffered minor injuries during the unrest following the shooting. Multiple police cars were damaged.

Questions remain:

▪ Was the gun reportedly held by Scott pointed at police?

▪ How many times was Scott shot, and where?

▪ What kind of warrant were police looking to serve, and who was it for?

What’s been disputed:

One of the key claims that riveted social media was made on a live video by a woman saying she was Scott’s daughter. She said Scott was unarmed and reading a book in the car while waiting for his son’s school bus.

Putney said no book was found at the scene.

Some witnesses said they believed the officer who shot Scott was a white man, not a black officer as police have said.

Staff writer Katherine Peralta contributed.