North Charleston officer faces murder charge after video shows him shooting man in back
Andrew Knapp
Apr 7 2015 4:19 pm Apr 7 6:12 pm
A North Charleston police officer was arrested on a murder charge Tuesday after video surfaced of the lawman shooting eight times at 50-year-old Walter Scott as he ran away.
Scott died Saturday after Patrolman 1st Class Michael Slager, 33, shot him in the back.
The State Law Enforcement Division, which looked into whether the shooting was justified, confirmed that the officer had been booked into Charleston County’s jail late Tuesday afternoon on a murder charge.
Mayor Keith Summey said during a news conference that
Slager’s “bad decision” had prompted his arrest.
“When you’re wrong, you’re wrong,” Summey said. “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.”
The footage, which The Post and Courier obtained Tuesday from a source who asked to remain anonymous, shows the end of the confrontation between the two on Saturday after the officer said Scott, who had a warrant out for his arrest, ran from a traffic stop. It was the first piece of evidence that could contradict a statement that Slager released to the public through his attorney.
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Scott starts running away. Wires, presumably from Slager’s Taser, stretch from Scott to the officer’s hands.
After the gunfire, Slager glances at the person taking the video, then talks into his radio.
The cameraman curses, and Slager yells at Scott as sirens wail.
“Put your hands behind your back,” the officer shouts before he handcuffs Scott as another lawman runs to the scene.
Scott died there.
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He had a history of arrests related to contempt of court charges for failing to pay child support. The only accusation of violence against Scott during his lifetime came through a 1987 assault and battery charge, but the disposition of that charge was not immediately known.
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