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CMPD Chief Petitions To Release Additional Danquirs Franklin Shooting Video

CMPD Chief Kerr Putney has filed a petition to release all 11 minutes of video from the body camera of the officer that shot Danquirs Franklin, said Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles.

CMPD only released 2 minutes and 20 seconds of video Monday in response to a judge's order last week. At the time, Putney said the release of additional video would hurt the police investigation.

But members of City Council saw an 11-minute video from the body camera of Wende Kerl, the officer who shot Franklin on March 25 in a Burger King parking lot in west Charlotte. Lyles said in a statement that showing the entire video to the council was inadvertent.

"After the Superior Court ruled on the release of the body worn cameras, I and the Council viewed what we thought was soon-to-be available to the public. That was our intent. Inadvertently, we were shown more of the video than we should have. Today, Chief Putney filed a petition to release the video to the public in Superior Court. We support his request."

WBTV, which filed the original petition to request the video, today filed a motion to hold CMPD in contempt for not releasing all of the video. A hearing on that motion is scheduled for Tuesday.

The Charlotte Observer also filed a petition today to release all recordings related to the shooting.

CMPD is now in the unusual position of filing a petition before it can release video because of legislation passed in 2016 that requires a court order for law enforcement agencies to do so.

Kerl and another officer were dispatched to the Burger King after two people called 911. One caller said the man had a gun while the other said he "looked like he was pulling out a gun" but added that she didn't see it.

Video footage of the incident shows police telling Franklin to drop his gun at least 24 times. Franklin then moves his right hand and it appears that he is holding a gun with the butt facing a man in the vehicle next to him and the barrel facing himself when Kerl shoots him.

CMPD says Kerl "perceived an imminent, deadly threat."

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Greg Collard served as news director from 2008 to 2023. He served as WFAE's executive editor in 2023. He came to WFAE from West Virginia Public Broadcasting. In his eight years there, Greg had roles as a reporter, editor and producer. He was the executive producer of a television news magazine and news director for radio and television when he decided to head south for Charlotte.