Police video of Charlotte shooting 'does not definitely show Keith Lamont Scott holding a gun'

  • World

  • Video report by ITV News Washington Correspondent Robert Moore

A police video of the shooting of a black man in Charlotte, North Caroline does not definitively show the victim pointing a gun, the city's police chief has said.

Keith Lamont Scott was shot on Tuesday and police have said previously the 43-year-old got out of his car holding a firearm and posed an "imminent deadly threat".

However, social media posts reported that Mr Scott was unarmed and his family say he was holding a book and waiting to pick up his son from school.

Police have resisted pressure to publicly release the video, but they have shown it to Mr Scott's family.

After the family watched the two police videos a lawyer said that Mr Scott did not aggressively approach police officers, and that he had his hands by his sides when he was shot.

The family's lawyer, Justin Bamberg, added that it was impossible to tell if Mr Scott had anything in his hands and the he was slowly walking backwards.

Speaking at a news conference, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney said the video supported the police account of what happened, but did not definitively show Mr Scott pointing a gun at police.

  • A state of emergency

Overnight, nine people were injured, including one person who was shot, during a second night of protests sparked by Mr Scott's shooting.

Protests have been held across the city in protest of the shooting. Credit: Reuters

Forty-four people were arrested and a state of emergency has been declared in the city.

But no curfew will be immediately ordered, Chief Putney said:"We don't see a need to definitively shut the city down."

There have been violent clashes between police and protesters in Charlotte. Credit: Reuters

The city's mayor Jennifer Roberts has called for calm and said the clashes on Wednesday night "were not the Charlotte that I know and love".

"They're not reflective of our community and the deep-seated traditions that we have of collaboration and peace," she added.

Third fatal police shooting in a week

Mr Scott's shooting came just days after it was reported a white officer killed an unarmed black man in Oklahoma.

A 13-year-old boy also shot dead by police in Ohio after they responded to reports of an armed robbery.

Officers said the Tyree King appeared to pull a gun from the waistband of his trousers.It later turned out to be a BB gun.