N.C. policeman not charged in shooting
that sparked protests
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[December 01, 2016]
By Greg Lacour
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Reuters) - A police
officer "acted lawfully" when he shot and killed an armed black man in
Charlotte, North Carolina, in September and will not face criminal
charges for his use of force, a district attorney said on Wednesday.
Officer Brentley Vinson reasonably believed he and several other
officers faced an imminent threat from Keith Scott, 43, who they saw
holding a gun when they confronted him in the parking lot of a Charlotte
apartment complex, District Attorney Andrew Murray told a news
conference.
"Officers can be heard at least 10 times ordering Mr Scott to drop the
gun," the prosecutor said, referring to videos of the incident. "Mr.
Scott did not comply with those commands."
The decision not to prosecute Vinson raised fears of fresh protests in
Charlotte, North Carolina's largest city and a U.S. banking hub. Scott's
death on Sept. 20 sparked a week of sometimes violent demonstrations,
making the city another flashpoint in two years of protests over police
killings of black men, many of them unarmed, across the country.
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Nearly 100 people gathered in the rain Wednesday night outside the
city's police headquarters, where chants included, "the whole damn
system is guilty as hell." Protesters, who were spirited but not
violent, then began marching in the area where earlier this fall people
smashed windows and looted businesses.
Four people were arrested for obstructing traffic during the "mostly
peaceful" protest, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said on
Twitter. One was also charged with disorderly conduct, police said.
Scott's family said in a statement they were "profoundly disappointed"
by prosecutors' findings, but they asked "that everyone work together to
fix the system that allowed this tragedy to happen in the first place."
The family and people who said they witnessed the shooting disputed that
he had a weapon. Some said the father of seven was instead holding a
book and was shot by a white officer, rather than Vinson, who is black.
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![](../images/120116pics/news_d7.jpg)
Protesters march through uptown Charlotte, North Carolina November
30, 2016, following the decision of the district attorney not to
press criminal charges against police in the shooting of Keith
Scott. REUTERS/Jason Miczek
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The district attorney said the two-month investigation disproved
those claims.
Murray showed surveillance footage from a convenience store Scott
visited minutes before the shooting that showed a bulge in his pants
near his right ankle. That was consistent with the holster and gun
later described by officers and located at the scene, the prosecutor
said.
Murray acknowledged that none of the video recordings from the scene
offered clear evidence that Scott was holding a gun when he was
shot.
However, Murray said, "all of the credible and available evidence
suggests that he was, in fact, armed." Several self-described
eyewitnesses did not actually see the incident, he added.
Analysis of all the officers' guns confirmed Vinson was the only one
who fired his weapon.
The officers described Scott as having a blank stare "as if he was
in a trance-like state," consistent with the side effects of a
medication Scott's wife confirmed he had been taking, Murray said.
The prosecutor said Scott's DNA was found on his gun, which was
cocked with the safety off and a round in the chamber.
(Additional reporting and writing by Colleen Jenkins; Editing by
Jonathan Oatis and Tom Brown)
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