This is what we know about Keith Lamont Scott, the black man killed by North Carolina police
Charlotte, North Carolina erupted in protests Tuesday night, after police shot and killed a black man, identified as Keith Lamont Scott, while attempting to serve a warrant intended for another individual.
The circumstances of Scott’s death are unclear. Police claim he exited his car armed with a firearm, and “posed an imminent deadly threat to the officers,” prompting officer Brentley Vinson, who is also reportedly black, to open fire. That account, however, is contradicted by Scott’s family, who say he was unarmed and was simply holding a book in his hand.
While details are sparse and this story is evolving quickly, here’s what we know about Keith Lamont Scott.
A crowdfunding page set up for Scott’s family claims he is survived by seven children, and a wife, Rakeyia.
Keith Scott was 43.
In a lengthy Facebook Live broadcast, a woman identified as Scott’s daughter Lyric could be heard declaring her father was unarmed, and claiming he had an unspecified disability.
“They just killed my daddy,” she exclaimed after hearing news that Scott had been pronounced dead.
Warning: This video contains NSFW language.
A man identified as Scott’s brother said that Scott was sitting in his car, waiting to pick up his son from school.Shakeala Baker, who lives near the site of Scott’s shooting, told Reuters that she had seem him there waiting for his son on other days, as well.
Scott’s mother, Vernita Walker, described her son to the Charlotte Observer as “a family man,” who was “a likable person. And he loved his wife and his children.”
The paper also reports that Scott was convicted of misdemeanor assault with a deadly weapon in 2004, and was found guilty of DWI in 2015.
Scott’s death comes just days after another police-involved shooting in Tulsa, Oklahoma. There, Terence Crutcher, an unarmed black man, was shot and killed by officers after his car stalled on his way home from a community college course. Crutchers death, caught on tape by police dashboard camera, prompted outrage and calls for action from his family and community members.
This is a developing story, and will be updated as more details are made available.