News

New Video Shows Moments Before Keith Scott's Death: 'He Doesn't Have A Gun'

by John Haltiwanger
NBC News

Rakeyia Scott, the wife of Keith Scott, used the camera on her cell phone to film the moments before police fatally shot her husband in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The video, which is graphic and features strong language, doesn't show the shooting itself.

It also doesn't reveal whether Scott was holding a gun, as police have claimed.

In the video, Scott pleads with police to not shoot her husband. She said,

Don't shoot him... He didn't do anything.

Meanwhile, you can hear police yelling,

Drop the gun!
NBC News

Scott then said,

He doesn't have a gun. He has a TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury). He's not going to do anything to you guys, he just took his medicine.

She then pleads with her husband to get out of the car and comply with police orders.

At one point, right before police opened fire, she said,

Keith, don't you do it.

But it's unclear what he was doing in this moment.

Scott continued to record after her husband was shot. She said,

Fuck. Did you shoot him? Did you shoot him? Did you shoot him? He better not be fucking dead. He better not be fucking dead. I know that fucking much. I know that much. He better not be dead.

Police then told her not to come any closer. She complied but told them she would continue to record, saying,

I'm not going to come near you. I'm going to record, though. I'm not coming near you. I'm going to record, though. He better be alive because ...I come You better be alive. How about that? Yes, we here, over here at 50 ... 50 ...9453 Lexington Court. These are the police officers that shot my husband, and he better live. He better live. Because he didn't do nothing to them.

Police then ask one another if everyone is "good."

The video ends with Scott asking the officers whether they've called an ambulance for her husband. She says,

He better live. I swear, he better live. Yep, he better live. He better fucking live. He better live. Where is...He better fucking live, and I can't even leave the damn...I ain't going nowhere. I'm staying in the same damn spot. What the fuck. That's O.K. did you all call the police? I mean, did you all call an ambulance?

Charlotte city officials have refused to release the police video of the shooting because they don't want to "jeopardize the investigation."

There have been ongoing protests in Charlotte over the shooting this week, with many demanding the tape be released.

Watch Rakeyia Scott's video above. Warning: Some viewers might find it distressing.