Charlotte officer cleared in slaying

The family of Keith Lamont Scott including his wife Rakeyia Scott, right, attend a news conference after finding out charges would not be filed against CMPD officer Brentley Vinson in the fatal shooting of her husband. District Attorney Andrew Murray announced that the shooting by officer Brent Vinson was justified. Vinson, who is black, shot and killed Keith Lamont Scott on Sept. 20.
The family of Keith Lamont Scott including his wife Rakeyia Scott, right, attend a news conference after finding out charges would not be filed against CMPD officer Brentley Vinson in the fatal shooting of her husband. District Attorney Andrew Murray announced that the shooting by officer Brent Vinson was justified. Vinson, who is black, shot and killed Keith Lamont Scott on Sept. 20.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A prosecutor on Wednesday cleared a Charlotte police officer in the killing of a black man whose death touched off civil unrest, and he presented evidence to challenge assertions that the slain man was unarmed.

Officer Brentley Vinson was justified in opening fire on Keith Scott and won't face charges, Charlotte-Mecklenburg District Attorney Andrew Murray said.

In a 40-minute presentation to reporters, Murray produced evidence that Scott was armed with a handgun and that the officer who killed him had feared that Scott would shoot.

The announcement "profoundly disappointed" Scott's family, but they haven't decided whether to file a lawsuit, their lawyer said.

[Read about recent fatal shootings by police across the country.]

Scott, 43, was killed Sept. 20 in the parking lot of an apartment complex.

Much of Murray's presentation centered on the gun and on countering witnesses who said Scott wasn't armed.

Murray displayed a store's surveillance video taken shortly before the shooting, showing the outline of what appeared to be a holstered gun on Scott's ankle. He said Scott's DNA was found on a Colt .380-caliber semi-automatic handgun recovered at the scene.

Murray shared a Facebook conversation from a man who said he sold the stolen gun to Scott and recognized him from TV coverage after the shooting. The prosecutor also shared police radio traffic in which officers talked about the gun before confronting Scott.

He also released his report online and asked the public to review his findings before protesting. Two nights of protests after the shooting resulted in looted stores near the scene and in downtown Charlotte, millions of dollars of damage, a fatal shooting and more than two dozen injuries to police officers and others.

Murray said his team of homicide prosecutors, along with other lawyers, reviewed the evidence. He said the review relied on 63 State Bureau of Investigation agents working a total of 2,300 hours. Murray said every one of them agreed with his conclusion.

Minutes after Murray spoke to reporters, Scott family attorney Justin Bamberg said at a news conference that there still isn't definitive proof that Scott had a gun in his hand when he was shot.

Scott's family is profoundly disappointed at the decision not to charge Vinson, Bamberg said, but they thanked Murray for meeting with them for an hour to answer their questions.

Anyone who's upset should not resort to violence but should work on changing a system that lets officers shoot people without taking more steps to prevent confrontations from becoming deadly, Bamberg said.

Scott's wife, Rakeyia, stood behind the lawyer with her sister, Rachel Dotch. They didn't speak to reporters.

A Section on 12/01/2016

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