While officials have declined to release the bodycam or dashcam footage of Keith Lamont Scott’s fatal encounter with police, new video obtained by NBC News shows the moments leading up to what happened.
via NBC:
The footage, taken by Scott’s wife, does not clearly show the exact moment he was shot by police on Tuesday. Scott is seen on the ground moments after the shots were fired and surrounded by officers.
“He better not be f—ing dead, he better not be f—ing dead,” Rakeyia Scott can be heard shouting at the police officers. “He better live, he better live!” It is not clear what preceded the shooting.
The killing of Scott, 43, sparked three nights of fiery protests and violent clashes between protesters and law enforcement. Activists and the Scott family have pressed city officials to release bodycam or dashcam footage of the fatal encounter, which reignited debates about race and policing nationwide.
In the footage obtained by NBC News, Rakeyia Scott can be heard saying, “Don’t shoot him, don’t shoot him” as police appear to converge on a white pick-up truck in the parking lot of a condominium complex. “He has no weapon — don’t shoot him!”
Rakeyia Scott can be heard urging her husband to comply with the officers who had instructed her husband to “drop the gun, drop the gun.”
“Keith, don’t let them break the windows! Come on out of the car,” she can be heard yelling, “Keith, don’t do it!”
“Keith, Keith, Keith — don’t you do it!”
It’s at that moment that four gunshots can be heard, as Scott’s wife screams: “Did you shoot him? Did you shoot him?”
In the aftermath, police officers can be seen attending to Scott’s prone body as his wife apparently calls 9-1-1. No gun can be seen in the footage, which appears to have been recorded from a nearby patch of grass.
The footage was obtained by NBC News amid conflicting reports about whether a gun was found at the scene of the shooting. Police say he had a handgun on him and posed “an imminent, deadly threat.” The family says he was not armed and did not pose a threat to the officers.
Watch the newly-obtained footage below.
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