Videos released Saturday by police in Charlotte, North Carolina, show a deadly confrontation between police and Keith Lamont Scott, a black man who was shot to death Tuesday, triggering riots in the city.

The dashboard and body camera videos from officers confronting Scott were released after days of calls from protesters to make the footage public.

One video shows Scott getting out of his car, turning to his left and standing in the parking lot for about three seconds before he is shot and falls to the ground.

The second video does not show Scott before he is on the ground. The audio on this video has been removed for the first 23 seconds.

The major question about the shooting — whether Scott was holding a gun when police ordered him to step out of his car — was not answered even with the release of the first video, which shows Scott exiting his car and backing slowly away as police officers order him to drop what they thought was a weapon.

Police said Saturday that two plainclothes officers in an unmarked car had been in Scott’s neighborhood Tuesday to serve a warrant to someone else when they spotted Scott sitting in his car and holding what they thought was a marijuana cigarette.

WATCH: Police Body Camera Video of Fatal Shooting of Keith Scott

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney told reporters Saturday that the officers also thought they saw Scott holding a gun, and they reasoned that the combination of drugs and a weapon constituted a threat to public safety.

Putnam said the officers retreated, donned protective gear that was marked “Police,” and returned to confront Scott, ordering him loudly to drop his weapon — something that can be heard on the video. Police said Scott did not comply, even after a police officer in a marked SUV drove up and pounded with his fist on Scott’s passenger-side window.

Police said Scott then got out of his vehicle but did not surrender a weapon, and one of the officers fired the fatal shots.

In a news conference Saturday evening, Scott’s family questioned how the situation could have turned deadly so quickly. After seeing the video, Scott’s brother told reporters, “Unfortunately, now we are left with more questions than answers.”

As Putney announced earlier Saturday that the videos would be released, several hundred demonstrators gathered near police headquarters.

WATCH: Police Dashcam Video of Fatal Shooting of Keith Scott

Putney said he had been assured that making the videos public would not interfere with the investigation of the killing. He said the images were being released “in the spirit of transparency.”

The police chief defended his officers’ actions, saying they had acted correctly in firing at Scott because he had marijuana with him at the time and also had a firearm.

But Scott’s family members have said repeatedly that he had no weapon, and that he was sitting in his car, reading a book and waiting for his son to be dropped off by a school bus when police approached him.

The dead man’s widow, Rakeyia, has released a recording she made Tuesday with her mobile phone, calling out to police over and over again that he was unarmed, and at the same time calling out to Scott to obey all police orders and come out of his car.

Neither Rakeyia Scott’s video nor the images released by police Saturday show clearly whether Keith Scott was holding a gun. As she yells that he is unarmed, police can be heard shouting at Scott: “Drop the gun!” Gunshots then ring out, and Scott can be seen lying in the street.

Soon after the shooting, it was learned that police had video recordings of what had happened, and those images became the focus of angry demonstrations. Wednesday’s protest turned violent, with smashing of store windows and scuffling with police, who fired tear gas at the crowd.

A 26-year-old man was shot and fatally wounded — by someone in the crowd, authorities have said, not by a police officer.

Demonstrations have been more peaceful since then, and the city has ordered a midnight curfew, which police have chosen not to enforce while anyone still on the streets at that hour is peaceful.
…