Moments Before Keith Lamont Scott's Fatal Shooting Seen in New Video
— -- A video capturing the moments leading up to and following the fatal police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott, which has sparked days of protests across the city of Charlotte, was released by the man’s family today.
A woman identified as Scott's wife, Rakeyia Scott, recorded the incident with her cellphone. The footage was provided to ABC News by attorneys for the Scott family today. In the cellphone video, an SUV is seen parked in the street as police repeatedly yell at Scott to "drop the gun." Scott's wife, who is standing several feet away from the scene, pleads with the officers not to harm her husband.
"Don't shoot him. Don't shoot him," she says. "He has no weapon. He has no weapon."
Police continue to scream at Keith Lamont Scott: "Drop the gun! Drop the f---ing gun!"
Rakeyia Scott yells back at police, insisting her husband is harmless and doesn't have a gun.
"He doesn't have a gun," she says. "He has a T.B.I. [traumatic brain injury]. He's not going to do anything to you guys. He just took his medicine."
One officer can be heard saying, "Let me get a f---ing baton over here."
Rakeyia Scott then yells to her husband anxiously, "Keith, don't let them break the windows. Come out the car!"
Police order Keith Lamont Scott to "drop the gun" several more times as his wife screams, "Keith! Keith! Don't you do it!"
That's when multiple gunshots ring out. The actual shooting is not shown on the video as Rakeyia Scott points her cellphone at the ground and screams, "Did you shoot him?"
She then runs closer to the scene, angling the cellphone camera again at the spot where her husband was shot.
“He better not be f---ing dead. He better not be f---ing dead,” she yells at police. “He better live. I swear, he better live.”
Scott's body is seen lying in the street surrounded by several officers.
"Did you all call an ambulance?" Scott's wife asks, before the video cuts out.
According to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, Scott was treated immediately and later pronounced dead.
The video is the first footage of Scott's encounter with police to be publicly released. Investigators have not released the dashboard and body camera videos.
The footage is "not great" for investigative purposes because you don't see the officers and you don't know whom Scott's wife is speaking to or what she is referring to when she says, "Don't do it," said former FBI Special Agent In-Charge Rich Frankel.
"You need a lot of information before you can make an informed decision," Frankel told ABC News. "You have a lot of people putting out their opinions on what happened. Until you more information, it's all hyperbole and guesses."
One of the attorneys representing the Scott family, Charles G. Monnett, said they released the video "in the name of truth and transparency."
"The family is still hopeful that the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department and city of Charlotte will release all available video of the incident to the public so that people can draw their own conclusions about Keith's death," Monnett said. "We encourage everyone to reserve judgment until all the facts are known. This is simply one step in our quest to find the truth for this family."
Police say Scott was holding a handgun, which investigators recovered from an apartment complex in Charlotte, and posed a threat because he was not obeying police orders to remain in his vehicle and drop the weapon. An officer subsequently fired his gun, striking Scott.
Police have identified that officer as Brentley Vinson, who has been employed with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department since July 21, 2014, and is currently assigned to the metro division. He has been placed on paid administrative leave as the investigation continues. Vinson was not wearing a body camera at the time, but the other officers who responded to the incident were, police said.
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Scott’s family has said he was not armed and was holding a book while waiting for his son to be dropped off from school.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney said the video evidence alone does not establish probable cause. But the "intent" is to publicly release the video along with other supporting evidence once it's been fully gathered. Still, the timing has to be right, he said.
The probe into Scott's death has now been officially handed over to North Carolina's State Bureau of Investigation, which will be in charge of providing updates and releasing further information on the status of the investigation, according to Putney.
ABC News' Brandon Baur, Darrell Calhoun, Julia Jacobo, Eva Pilgrim, Darren Reynolds and Seniboye Tienabeso contributed to this report.
