Doctors: Brain injury could’ve factored into police shooting
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Less than a year after a devastating motorcycle wreck that friends say left him muddled and struggling, Keith Lamont Scott was shot to death by Charlotte police officers who said he refused to drop a gun.
Neurologists say they aren’t surprised that someone with a severe traumatic brain injury would be slow to react and have difficulty following instructions, particularly when orders are being shouted by police officers with their weapons drawn.
“They don’t do well in stressful situations,” said Dr. David Brody, professor of neurology at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. “They often make poor choices or impulsive decisions under stress.”
Brody noted that his comments refer to severe TBIs in general, and that he never saw Scott as a patient. But he said “there’s no way a patient with a TBI who doesn’t know the difference between right and wrong should own a gun or drive a car.”