Michael Thomas Slager, a white police officer in South Carolina, has been charged with murder after a video surfaced of him shooting and killing a black motorist during a routine traffic stop over the weekend even as the man ran away from him.
Walter L. Scott, a 50-year-old Coast Guard veteran, was struck by five bullets fired by the 33-year-old Slager on Saturday, hit four times in the
back and once in the ear, The Post and Courier reported. A bystander who wishes to remain anonymous recorded the incident that showed the end of the confrontation.
The video shows Scott running from the traffic stop, which contradicts the account Slager gave, according to the newspaper.
The clip contains other potentially damning evidence, particularly one part where Slager appears to run back to where the original scuffle took place. He bends down to pick something up, and then drops it on the
ground near Scott's body, USA Today reported.
"Where would we be without that video?'' Justin Bamberg, an attorney for Scott's family, told the newspaper.
Walter Scott Sr., the father of victim, told NBC's "Today" that his son may have run away from Slager because he owed child support and probably did not
want to go back to jail, according to The State.
Scott's mother, Judy Scott, told ABC's "Good Morning America" that the video was "the most horrible thing I've ever seen," according to The State.
"I almost couldn't look at it to see my son running defenselessly, being shot. It just tore my heart to pieces," she said.
During a news conference Tuesday, North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey said Slager, who has been with the city's police force for five years, made "a bad decision." He was fired and charged with murder on Tuesday.
"When you're wrong, you're wrong," Summey told reporters. "When you make a bad decision, don't care if you're behind the shield or a citizen on the street, you have to live with that decision."
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