The attorney for the family of Keith Lamont Scott, a black man who was fatally shot by police in Charlotte in 2016, says he is finalizing the paperwork to sue the city and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department by the end of the month.
Justin Bamberg, the lawyer, said Monday that the family has “tried to work with the city and with police to no avail.”
“So now we’re going to the courts,” Bamberg said.
It was the second time Bamberg said the family was going forward with a lawsuit against the city. In February, he told WFAE he intended to file suit but gave no timeline of when he would submit the paperwork.
Scott was fatally shot at a University City apartment complex in September 2016 by CMPD Officer Brentley Vinson, also a black man. Vinson and other officers said they saw Scott in a car smoking marijuana. The officers ordered Scott out of the vehicle and said he exited the car with a loaded gun. Officers said Scott did not comply with multiple commands to put the gun down and Vinson said he feared for his life when he shot Scott.
Vinson was cleared of wrongdoing by the District Attorney and Police Chief Kerr Putney.
Scott’s family was adamant that he did not threaten officers with his gun, and took their case to the Citizen’s Review Board. After three days of closed-door testimony, the board was deadlocked 4-4 on whether officials were right to have exonerated Vinson.
Bamberg said he and the Scott family are finishing up the necessary legal documents to file the lawsuit by the end of the month.
