US police shooting video unclear on gun: family

NEW YORK

Video of a fatal police-involved shooting in North Carolina this week does not conclusively show the victim used a gun, the family said Thursday.

Attorney Justin Bamberg, representing the family of Keith Lamont Scott, said it was "impossible to discern from the videos what, if anything, Mr. Scott is holding in his hands".

Scott's death Tuesday at the hands of black police officer Brentley Vinson has sent the city of Charlotte spiraling into protests.

Bamberg said the family was asking police to immediately make the video public.

Scott, 43, was warned multiple times to drop a handgun he was carrying before officers opened fire, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney said Wednesday.

Police fired because Scott exited a vehicle still holding the handgun and posed a threat to the officers, according to Putney.

“One of the officers felt a lethal threat and fired his weapon because of that,” he said.

However, he told reporters Thursday that the video "does not give me absolute, definitive visual evidence that would confirm that a person is pointing a gun".

He later modified his statement, saying witness accounts and other pieces of evidence indicated Scott was holding a pistol when he was shot, and the weapon had been recovered at the scene.

Putney also said he had no plans to make the video public to protect the integrity of an ongoing investigation.

Protests that tore through the southern city devolved into looting on an interstate highway overnight and resulted in about 12 officers being injured.

Video footage appears to show protesters raiding tractor-trailers, burning their contents on I-85 and damaging police vehicles.

Officers dispersed the protests with tear gas, and calm has largely returned to Charlotte’s streets.

Peaceful demonstrations returned Thursday night amid a midnight curfew imposed by the mayor.