Staff Writer
A white
South Carolina police officer, City Patrolman Michael Thomas Slager, was
arrested and charged with murder in the Saturday shooting of 50 year old black
male Walter Scott. Slager was taken into custody after law enforcement
officials saw a video of Slager firing shots at Scott as he ran away. Slager
claims he felt threatened and that Scott was trying to take his gun, while the
video clearly depicts otherwise. If convicted, Slager could face 30 years to
life in prison, with the death penalty on the table as well.
The
video shows the conflict after Scott ran from a traffic stop for a broken
taillight, and authorities say Scott was shot after being hit with a stun gun.
Slager can be seen firing eight shots at Scott before he went down. Slager
walked to the body on the ground repeatedly ordering him to put his hands
behind his back. When there was no response, Slager cuffed Scott, ran back to
the spot where he fired the shots and picked up an object. He then returned to
Scott and dropped the object next to his feet. The object is yet to be
identified.
North
Charleston Mayor Keith Summey announced the charges at a news conference, where
he also said, "When you're wrong, you're wrong. 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." At the same new conference, North
Charleston Police Chief Eddie Driggers said, "I have been around this
police department a long time and all the officers on this force, the men and
women, are like my children. So you tell me how a father would react seeing his
child do something? I'll let you answer that yourself."
Attorney
L. Chris Stewart called the videographer, who wanted to remain anonymous, a
hero, and that the video forced authorities to act quickly. "What happened
today doesn't happen all the time," Stewart told a news conference, “What
if there was no video?" Stewart said the family will file a lawsuit
against the police department.
