Keith Lamont Scott

Keith Lamont Scott, 43, a father of seven, was shot and killed by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officer Brentley Vinson on September 20, 2016, in an apartment complex parking lot. Officers were at the complex to serve a warrant on someone else when they encountered Scott, who has a brain injury, sitting in his SUV; police said body-camera video showed a gun in his hand as he exited the vehicle after repeated orders to drop it, while Scott's wife, who recorded the aftermath on her phone, said he had no gun and was unarmed. A firearm was recovered at the scene with Scott's fingerprints and DNA. After a two-month investigation, Mecklenburg County District Attorney Andrew Murray announced in November 2016 that Vinson — who is also Black — had acted lawfully, a conclusion 15 prosecutors in his office reached unanimously. No charges were ever filed against Vinson or any other officer at the scene.

Charlotte, NC · Mecklenburg County County

• 2016: Case opens — victim reported missing or found.
• Documented milestones (renewed investigation, media coverage, family advocacy) to be added as sourced.
• Present: case remains unresolved. No named suspect has been convicted.

• The encounter, the shooting, and Scott's death, per police dashcam, body-worn camera, and his wife's cell phone video, all released publicly.
• A handgun, reported stolen out of Gaston County, was recovered at the scene bearing Scott's fingerprints and DNA.
• District Attorney Andrew Murray announced on November 30, 2016 that his office, after unanimous agreement among 15 prosecutors, would not charge Vinson, concluding the shooting was justified based on the totality of the evidence.
• The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Justice both separately investigated the shooting alongside the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department's own review.
• Scott's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city and Vinson, alleging officers needlessly escalated an unconfirmed marijuana-possession stop into a fatal confrontation.

• Whether Scott in fact held the recovered handgun in his hand at the moment he was shot, as police maintained body-camera video showed, or whether he was unarmed and reading a book, as his wife stated, was never resolved by any criminal proceeding since none occurred.
• The family's lawsuit alleged Scott never raised his arms or made any threatening gesture; how this account squares with the DA's conclusion that the shooting was justified was not resolved through litigation before any reported settlement.
• Whether Scott's brain injury, which his family said affected his ability to communicate and comply with commands, was factored into the DA's justification analysis was not detailed in the office's public statements.

• CNN — “Keith Scott killing: No charges against officer”
• ABC News — “Cop Who Shot Keith Lamont Scott 'Acted Lawfully,' DA Says”
• NAACP Legal Defense Fund — “LDF on No Charges for Officer in Death of Keith Lamont Scott”
• Project Cold Case
• Murder Accountability Project
• NamUs