Charlotte police release shooting footage

Charlotte police on Saturday released video footage of the fatal shooting of a black man by police that has triggered several days of protests in North Carolina, but Police Chief Kerr Putney said it did not show Keith Lamont Scott had a handgun.

Putney said at a news conference that the body-worn camera and dash-cam footage of the Tuesday shooting nonetheless "supports all of the other information" to validate police claims that the 43-year-old black man had a handgun when he was shot dead.

"There is no definitive visual evidence that he had a gun in his hand, you can see something in the hand, and that he pointed it at an officer. That I did not visually see in the video," Putney said. "But what we do see is compelling evidence that, when you put all the pieces together, supports that."

The release of partial footage of the incident comes as Charlotte was rocked by a fifth day of protests on Saturday. After turning violent on Wednesday the demonstrations have since become largely peaceful after the National Guard was called out and a curfew enforced.

The protests have centered around demands upon police to release the footage.

Scott's family says that the 43-year-old black man did not have a gun and was holding a book.

Scott's wife released a cell phone video of the incident on Friday that didn't clear up whether he had a handgun.

Putney said Scott was "absolutely in possession of a handgun" and had marijuana, forcing police to act because he posed "a safety issue for us and the public." Police also released images of a gun they said was in Scott's possession.

"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.

Police were looking for someone else when they encountered Scott in his car outside an apartment complex.

Scott's death is the latest over the past several years that have heightened concern of excessive police force, especially against blacks.

Scott became the 214th black person killed by police in the United States this year. All told, police have killed 821 people nationwide this year, according to the group Mapping Police Violence.

Earlier in the week, Putney said police could not yet release footage because it could impact the investigation.  After speaking with state legislatures he said it could now be released without "adversely impacting" the ongoing Investigation.

cw/kl (AP, Reuters)