A white South Carolina police officer has been fired after being charged with murder for shooting a black man in the back as he fled, but questions remained on Wednesday about some details of the killing that was filmed by a witness.
The shooting occurred on Saturday in North Charleston, a town of about 100,000 people, nearly half of whom are black, but it gained national media attention on Tuesday when the video became public.
The incident was recorded by a man identified by NBC News as Feidin Santana. In an interview with the network, he said the victim, 50-year-old Walter Scott, had been hit by the officer's stun gun before fleeing to avoid further stun gun fire.
The video, which Santana said he gave to Scott's family, shows a brief scuffle between Scott and police officer Michael Slager, 33, before Scott runs. Slager is then seen taking aim with a handgun before shooting eight times at Scott's back.
"He made a bad decision," Santana said of the officer. "You pay for your decisions in this life. I think Mr. Scott didn't deserve this."
The shooting was the latest in a series of deaths during police encounters in the United States that have led protesters to decry racism and police brutality.
North Charleston Police Chief Eddie Driggers said at a news conference that he did not know whether officers had performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Scott, who had been stopped by police for a broken brake light on his vehicle.
With Scott slumped facedown on grass, Slager is seen placing him in handcuffs and then walking back to a spot near where he opened fire. The video then shows him appearing to pick something up, return to Scott, and drop it next to him.
No comments:
Post a Comment