http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/23/us/charlotte-protests-keith-scott.html 2016-09-22 18:43:56 Charlotte Police Shooting Video Not ‘Definitive,’ Chief Says “The video does not give me absolute, definitive, visual evidence,” the police chief said as the North Carolina city was rocked by protests. === The Charlotte police chief, with the city staggered by two nights of violent protests after the fatal police shooting of a black man, said Thursday that a video of the episode did not definitively show the victim, Keith L. Scott, pointing a gun. The chief, Kerr Putney of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg police, said that while he had no plans to release the video of the shooting, he did intend to show it to Mr. Scott’s family, at their request. “The video does not give me absolute, definitive, visual evidence that would confirm that a person is pointing a gun,” Chief Putney said at a news conference. Chief Putney has said that Mr. Scott brandished a gun before an officer, who is also black, shot him, and on Thursday he said the video supported that version of events. "When taking in the totality of all the other evidence, it supports what we’ve heard and the version of the truth that we gave about the circumstances that happened that led to the death of Mr. Scott,” Chief Putney said. The chief said the department’s practice was not to release video to the public, to protect the integrity of investigations. And in this incident, he said, the case may soon be out of his hands. “Even though we’re investigating, we probably won’t be long term,” he said, citing a request that the Federal Bureau of Investigation take over the inquiry. “I’m not going to release anything that would be on somebody else to release.” The protests began Tuesday night after Mr. Scott, 43, was shot by Officer Brentley Vinson while officers were serving a warrant on someone else. There are starkly different accounts about what happened. The police say Mr. Scott was holding a gun before he was shot; friends and family say it was a book. The news conference followed a chaotic night of gunfire, tear gas and arrests in Charlotte’s city center, and after Gov. Pat McCrory’s office announced that he had initiated steps to deploy the North Carolina National Guard and the State Highway Patrol to assist local law enforcement. On Wednesday, a man was gravely wounded during a demonstration in Charlotte; city officials described the episode as a “civilian on civilian” confrontation, but some protesters accused the police of opening fire. The wounded man remained in critical condition, Chief Putney said. Nine civilians were injured, two officers suffered “relatively minor” eye injuries, and three officers were treated for heat-related issues, officials said. The authorities made 44 arrests. Chief Putney said that the National Guard troops and the state police would be used to help protect buildings in the city, freeing Charlotte police officers to monitor the protests.