Charlotte police will release footage of the shooting death of a black man during an encounter with officers in the state of North Carolina, Chief Kerr Putney told reporters Saturday.
The Charlotte-Mecklenburg police chief said he will release to the public Saturday both "the body-worn camera footage and dash-cam footage" that captured the shooting of Keith Lamont Scott, whose Tuesday death has triggered days of unrest and calls for the videos' release.
North Carolina. Gov. Pat McCrory said that he supports the decision to release police video recordings showing the shooting of a black man.
McCrory said in a statement Saturday that he supported the decision of Charlotte Police Chief Kerr Putney. McCrory also said he had been assured by state investigators that the release wouldn't have an impact on their probe into the shooting of Keith Lamont Scott.
Chief Putney told reporters on Saturday that officers saw marijuana and a weapon in Keith Lamont Scott's car and said, "uh oh, this is a safety issue for us and the public.".
Putney told a news conference that the evidence shows Scott was in possession a handgun and marijuana during the confrontation with police.
"They look in the car and they see the marijuana, they don't act. They see the gun and they think they need to," Putney said of the officers at the scene, who had gone to the Charlotte neighborhood to serve a warrant on a different person.
Police have continually said that Scott was armed at the time of the encounter, a contention that his family has disputed and which gave rise to the protests and rioting in Charlotte.
A video taken by Scott's wife and released to the public on Friday did not provide an answer on whether Scott had a gun.
Putney on Saturday said all evidence gathered by police made clear what happened, but the videos were insufficient to do so independently.
"Yes, based on the totality of what we see, he absolutely was in possession of a handgun," Putney said.
He described the police videos as supporting other evidence, rather than being standalone proof. "The footage itself will not create in anyone's mind absolute certainty as to what this case represents and what the outcome should be," Putney said.
Earlier in the week, Putney said that police were not ready to release the video because doing so could compromise the investigation into the shooting. On Saturday, he said that after speaking with state investigators he concluded the video could now be released without "adversely impacting" the investigation.
"What we are releasing are the objective facts," Putney said.
Protesters have called for officers involved in the shooting to face criminal charges, but Putney said, "Officers are absolutely not being charged by me at this point.
"But again, there's another investigation ongoing," he added.
Putney said police would not be releasing all the video footage they have of the incident, instead making public only the "pertinent" parts.
Scott, who was sitting in a parked car when confronted by police, was shot by Officer Brentley Vinson, who has been placed on paid administrative leave. Vinson is also black. Putney said he knew of only one officer firing.
Demonstrators on Saturday mounted a fifth day of protests in Charlotte. They called for the end of emergency measures imposed on the city this week, the removal of National Guard troops and for officers involved in the incident to be prosecuted.