UPDATE: PRESS CONFERENCE ADDED – No charges against Charlotte officer who shot Keith Scott

by The Right Scoop

The DA for Charlotte gave an exhaustive press conference this morning laying out all of the evidence to show that Keith Scott absolutely had a gun and that the officer who fatally shot him was justified and will thusly not be charged:

AP – A Charlotte police officer who shot and killed a black man at an apartment complex will not face charges a North Carolina prosecutor announced Wednesday.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg District Attorney Andrew Murray said Officer Brentley Vinson’s actions in killing Keith Lamont Scott were justified.

Scott’s family has said he was not armed.

However, at a lengthy news conference Murray displayed a nearby store’s surveillance video showing the outline of what appeared to be a holstered gun on Scott’s ankle, and he gave extensive details about other evidence that Scott was armed.

Plainclothes officers had gone to the complex about 4 p.m. on Sept. 20 looking for a suspect with an outstanding warrant when they saw Scott — not the suspect they were looking for — inside a car with a gun and marijuana, department spokesman Keith Trietley has said in a statement.

Officers saw Scott get out of the car with a gun and then get back in, police said. When officers approached, they said, Scott exited the car with the gun again. At that point, officers deemed Scott a threat and Vinson fired his weapon.

Scott, 43, was pronounced dead at Carolinas Medical Center. An autopsy report from Mecklenburg County authorities says Scott died of gunshot wounds to the back and abdomen.

Vinson, who is also black, had been with the department for two years at the time of the shooting. He has been on administrative leave which is standard in police shootings.

Scott’s family has said he did not have a gun, but detectives recovered a firearm at the scene, police said.

At a Wednesday news conference, Murray played a nearby store’s surveillance video that appeared to show the outline of a gun in a holster on Scott’s right ankle.

There’s no doubt the DA laid all of this out so thoroughly in response to the protests that occurred in September. There were lots of misinformation that came from people lying about what they saw and the circumstances surrounding the shooting — including the wife of Scott who said he hadn’t owned a gun since January.

I will post the full press conference here as soon as it becomes available.

UPDATE: Here’s the press conference:


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