(Newswire.net — April 8, 2015) — North Charleston, S.Carolina – North Charleston’s mayor said during a press conference on Tuesday’s said that due to the video of the shooting by a bystander, a white police officer Michael Slager, was charged for murder, after shooting an unarmed black man in the back, the New York Times reported.
According to the police report, the tragic incident unfolded after Slager pulled Scott over during a routine traffic stop for a broken taillight. Scott ran away and Slager chased him into a nearby lot. Slager reported he fired his Taser, but it did not stop Scott.
Video that went viral shows 33-year-old Michael Slager standing in a park with 50-year-old Walter Scott. Suddenly, Scott turns around and flees. Slager did not attempt to give chase, although Scott was older, obese and not running very fast, as the video showed.
Instead, Slager pulled his handgun and fired multiple shots at Scott. The report says Slager shot Scott eight times, in the back. The video shows Scott then approached and handcuffed Scott, who was lying face down, with 8 bullets in his back, motionless. Scott diet on the scene, the NY Times reported.
Officer Slager said earlier he feared for his life after Scott took his stun gun during a scuffle after a traffic stop on Saturday. However, the bystander’s video showed, after another police officer was checking Scott for vital signs, Slager approached Scott and dropped an object beside Scott that appeared to be a stun gunct that may be a stun gun, approaches the Scott and drop the item beside him.
“Without the video … it would be difficult for us to ascertain exactly what did occur,” North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey said at a Tuesday news conference. “We want to thank the young person who came forward … because it has helped us resolve the issue,” he said, adding that Slager had made a “bad decision.”
“When you’re wrong, you’re wrong,” Summey said, as reported by The Post and Courier, South Carolina. “If you make a bad decision, [I] don’t care if you’re behind the shield or just a citizen on the street, you have to live by that decision,” the Post and Courier reported.
The mayor also said that the case could have ended differently if it weren’t for the footage, which is another issue because the video showed Scott dropped the item right in front of another officers face. It would be impossible for him not to notice the move. The question is, if there wasn’t a video, isn’t another officer obligated to report such a thing? Who is another officer, and why he didn’t reported Slager dropping an item next to Scott’s feet? Shouldn’t be another officer at the scene charged for turning a blind eye?
It is the 11th law enforcement-involved shooting in couple of months from the beginning of the 2015. Reportedly, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the FBI and the Justice Department begun an investigation into the shooting.
The 50-year-old was engaged to be married and leaves behind four children. Reportedly, he owed child support. Some family members said to media they believed that was the reason Scott fled the officer.