CHARLOTTE, N.C. _ The long-simmering debate over the 2016 shooting of Keith Lamont Scott rekindled Wednesday with Scott's family claiming in a lawsuit that his death resulted from negligence, excessive force and the failure of Charlotte-Mecklenburg police to avoid a needless confrontation.
The complaint filed by Scott's widow, Rakeyia Scott, which names the City of Charlotte, police and Officer Brentley Vinson, who fired the fatal shots, comes almost two years after the Sept. 20, 2016, shooting. Scott's death set off two days of unprecedented demonstrations and violence across the city, which was broadcast around the world. Then-Gov. Pat McCrory eventually declared a state of emergency.
The Mecklenburg County District Attorney's Office later cleared Vinson and the other responding officers of any wrongdoing, saying Scott was armed and ignored at least 10 commands from officers to drop the weapon before Vinson shot him three times.
But Rakeyia Scott's complaint maintains that her husband did not have to die, and it details what it describes as the unnecessary steps taken by police to bring the fatal confrontation to pass.
The complaint alleges wrongful death, gross negligence, and assault and battery.
"(Vinson) aimed his semi-automatic pistol at Keith Lamont Scott and deliberately fired shots into his body despite the complete lack of objective evidence that Scott posed any threat whatsoever to any of the CMPD personnel on the scene, and without even knowing the identity of the man he was about to kill," the lawsuit says.
"The acts and omissions of Defendant Vinson ... were willful, wanton and/or reckless."
Chuck Monnett, the family's attorney and a frequent critic of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department's use of force, said police caused the standoff and then "escalated the situation to the point where it did not end peacefully."
"The guy's wife is right there. Why not say, 'OK, ma'am, could you get him to drop the gun and come out of the car with his hands up?' Why not try that?" Monnett said.
