The police chief in Charlotte claims Keith Lamont Scott exited his car holding a gun, not a book as his family claimed, and that police could not find a book at the scene. The chief said it was “time for the voiceless majority to stand up and be heard.” Scott, the police chief, and the officer who shot Scott are all black.
After a night of violent protests in Charlotte, the police chief tried to quash rumors about what happened to Keith Lamont Scott.
Scott, a father of seven, was killed by police in an apartment complex parking lot as officers looked for another man named in a warrant they were trying to serve.
His family said Scott, an African-American, was unarmed and sitting in his car reading a book, waiting for his son to come home from school.
But Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney said Scott exited his car with a gun, not a book. He said officers couldn’t find a book at the scene.
“It’s time for the voiceless majority to stand up and be heard,” said the police chief, who is black.
“It’s time to change the narrative because I can tell you from the facts that the story’s a little bit different as to how it’s been portrayed so far, especially through social media.”Putney said evidence and witnesses support the officers’ claim that Scott was armed.Officers repeatedly told Scott to drop his handgun, the chief said, but he didn’t. Officer Brentley Vinson, who is black, then shot him.