To some degree, the video shows the limits of body cams. You aren’t aiming the camera and there are limits to image stabilization. The audio has been removed, which makes me trust it less. The wife’s video though caught the audio of the police telling him to drop the gun.
The police narrative adds in a few more details that seem credible and not inconsistent with anything said to this point.
Two police were sitting in an unmarked SUV in plainclothes waiting for the subject of the warrant to arrive. They noticed a man sitting in a pickup truck and believed he was rolling a spiff (marijuana), but that was not why they were there. Unlike other parts of NC (Salisbury specifically comes to mind), CMPD generally ignores pot unless it is part of a bigger problem, like if he was smoking while driving, or around children.
At some point he displayed his gun. That’s when they got alarmed. Now you have a guy holding a gun while apparently smoking pot (the police do not mention odor, however). The undercover guys retreat and put on their police vests. Even so, the black officer is not as clearly a policeman as a uniform cop would be. A fake badge from 30 feet away is not necessarily convincing. He also is not wearing a body cam. They call for a real police car with uniformed officers to remove any doubt.
So why would Mr Scott not just exit his vehicle with his hands in the air and deescalate the situation? First reason is he is a convicted felon in possession of a handgun. Whether the police knew that at the time is not clear. But Mr Scott knew it. And if he had been smoking pot, paranoia is part of the fun. Would paranoia exist if pot was legal? Don’t know.
Somewhat surprisingly, knowing that he had a gun, the uniformed policeman with the body cam goes over to the passenger side window and bangs on it to get his attention, then retreats. Mr Scott exits the driver’s side and after refusing to drop the gun after multiple warnings, is shot 4 times by office Vinson, the designated shooter. Mr Scott probably did not point the gun at the officer, but he had already done several things to cause significant concern.
A few unanswered questions…
– was he wearing the ankle holster or just using it to carry the gun?, and the holster was left inside the truck (assumption yes)
– why did he feel it was necessary to risk going to prison to carry a gun?
– why did he feel he needed the carry the gun in his own front yard?
Mark Dice compilation
https://youtu.be/R-F2qNm_5ug
I can craft a logical theory, but it doesn’t mean a lot. I’ve mentioned Charlotte has a problem with heroin traffickers on I-85, and university park is an ideal place to hide from police. Mr Scott’s criminal history does not include drug offenses. My theory is he had the gun because of fear of the drug dealers in the complex. So he notices a vehicle in the parking lot eyeballing him. One of the men is black. Are they drug dealers? Display your gun to them so they go away….
The reason the video was released might be to disperse anger, but I take it rather that the issue of “protecting the case” has gone away – meaning that the review of the case by the State Bureau of Investgation has concluded there is no reason for a prosecution. The rumor from yesterday is confirmed that Mr Scott’s DNA and fingerprints were on the gun. The only criminal act I see here among the still living is the wife screaming that “he doesn’t have a gun!” when clearly they see he does. I think if she had just kep quiet, he might still be alive.
OK, the Mark Dice video clears up all of the issues and my confusion, particulatly where the body showed up
Mr Scott was not in the pickup truck – the police were using it for cover.
He was wearing the ankle holster on the outside of his pants (not concealed)
He exited his car with the gun in his hand and starts walking backward slowly toward the police. It doesn’t look like he ever aimed the gun at police, but his holding a gun and not complying is a problem. Saying “OKAY! OKAY!” would have diffused it, or not taking the gun out of the car. It really looks like “suicide by cop”, which explains the wife saying “Keith, don’t do it”. If he is a convicted felon with a gun, he could easily have told her “if they catch me with this gun, that means spending the rest of life in jail – I’ll just make them shoot me”
After he is face down on the ground, they handcuff him. Since he still is alive, it would be routine to kick the gun out of reach of his hand, but not pick it up – preserving fingerprints
I’m satisfied. I hope the Panthers had a great game.
My prediction was correct. Now that the NFL game passed without a problem, the SBI says it will not recommend prosecution.
http://www.wsoctv.com/web/wsoc/news/local/sources-video-of-deadly-encounter-between-cmpd-officer-keith-scott-to-be-released-saturday/449819987
Another loose end was that they did recover the “blunt”. Vinson is the one that spotted it initially and ignored it – UNTIL Mr Scott displayed the gun. Having drugs in your possession while having a gun is a big “no no”, regardless of whether he was a convicted felon or had a handgun permit. They are now saying he didn’t have the gun in his hand at all. Another officer was hitting the passenger side window with his baton to get Mr Scott’s attention. That may explain his focus toward the vehicle and walking backward. Since he was inside a closed vehicle, the orders by the police may it have been heard until after he opened the door.
The SBI told a really big lie. He said “we don’t shoot to kill people”. Every police department I know of says not to discharge your weapon unless you intend to kill.
The Rodney King case happened in part due to differences in policy between the state and local police. The LAPD is even more constrained – you don’t aim a gun at a person unless you intend to shoot to kill. The female state police officer had her gun out pointed at King, which the LAPD interpreted as she was about to shoot. The LAPD prevented that and possibly saved King’s life.
Maybe my eyes are failing, maybe it’s my monitor. I can’t tell that that’s a holster around his angle. From the video it could easily have been a bracelet for tracking felons. I can’t see much of anything in his right hand, nor judge just how much said object is *supposed* to be swaying.
Also, I never heard of this Mark Dice guy, but according to him, I should have. What’s with the faux news anchor voice? He comes off as a bit of a douche.
Mark Dice is known for doing videos that show up on Drudge, Infowars, and Breitbart. Most of them are him standing on the boardwalk and asking people to sign incredibly bizarre petitions. As long as he says Barack Obama or Hillary want it, they’ll sign pretty much anything.
The investigation was turned over the State Bureau of Investigation who found his DNA and fingerprints on the gun. I’m not so sure the gun was in his hand, but just before he is shot, his right hand moves in front of him, hidden from view of the police. Was he reaching for the gun to drop it? I guess we’ll never know.
Today’s Keith Scott shooting updates
The bombshell is that Keith Scott’s wife filed a temporary restraining order against him for assaulting her and her son – and on the form she stated that he had a black 9mm gun.
The gun was stolen in a residential burglary and alledgedly sold by the burglar to Scott. If it was a legal private gun sale, under NC gun laws, Scott would have been required to get a gun permit, which would have picked up the restraining order and the zfelony conviction in Texas.
None of that influences whether Officer Vinson had a reasonable belief that Mr Scott’s possession of a gun put he or the other officers in fear of death or great bodily harm
Another issue cleared up – the reason one body cam had no audio was it was not turned on – the body cam stores 30 seconds of video in a buffer, but no audio. The officer activated the body cam only after the shooting. Audio takes a trivial amount of data compared with video. This sounds like a deliberate “feature” built into the device
None of the videos clearly show the gun, and the gun was definitely not pointed at the officers, even if it was in his hand
Too bad wifey who knew he had the gun didn’t scream “put your hands up!” Instead of screaming “he doesn’t have a gun”
An arrest has been made in the group of black men beating up a white guy in a parking deck.
http://wncn.com/2016/09/28/man-charged-with-ethnic-intimidation-robbery-over-charlotte-video-attack/
They didn’t have to go far – he was already in custody for the looting at Jimmy John’s