CHARLOTTE, N.C. _ The family of the man shot by Charlotte police released a harrowing cellphone video of the fatal police encounter Friday, one taken by the victim's wife in the moments leading up his death.
The cellphone footage, which is shaky and taken for the most part from behind police vehicles, does not clearly show Keith Lamont Scott in the moment he was shot by police. Nor does it resolve the central question of whether he had a gun.
"Don't shoot him" Scott's wife, Rakeyia Scott, can be heard shouting to officers as she stands back, behind police vehicles. "He has no weapon."
As police officers scream at Scott _ "drop the gun, drop the gun" _ his wife tells them: "He doesn't have a gun."
Calmly, she tells them he has a TBI, traumatic brain injury.
"He's not going to do anything to you guys. He just took his medicine."
Rakeyia Scott can be heard saying, "Don't shoot him, don't shoot him" as police surround a white pick-up truck in the parking lot of a condominium complex. "He has no weapon _ don't shoot him!"
"Keith, don't let them break the windows!" she said, her voice quivering.
"Come on out the car," she insists, "Keith, don't do it!"
"Keith, get out the car," her voice rising. "Keith, Keith, Keith _ don't you do it!"
Four gunshots can be heard, followed by Rakeyia Scott's screams.
"Did you shoot him? Did you shoot him? Did you shoot him?" she screams. "He better not be dead, he better not be ... dead," she continues as she walks closer to the scene. "He better be alive, he better alive!"
After the shots were fired, Scott is seen splayed on the ground, not moving, and surrounded by officers. His wife calls 911.
The fatal police shooting has set off days of noisy and sometimes violent street protests as activists and family members alike have demanded that police release their videos of the fatal shooting. The city's police chief, Kerr Putney, has refused to make the videos public, though he did permit Scott's family to view it.
That debate only deepened Friday when Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Robert said she believed that the tape should be made public _ eventually.
"I lean towards transparency in everything our city does," Roberts said at a Friday morning news conference, noting that the question is timing. "I know there's a delicate balance when there's an ongoing investigation. If one piece is released early, it can jeopardize the integrity of the investigation."
Meanwhile, after three nights of noisy and sometimes violent protests, the rhythms of everyday life began to return to downtown Charlotte.
