https://youtu.be/XKQqgVlk0NQ(Warning Graphic Video)
Video taken by a bystander, Feidin Santana, and released to the media Tuesday led to the arrest of a North Charleston, South Carolina police officer on a murder charge.
The cell phone recording shows Patrolman 1st Class Michael Slager shooting Walter Scott in the back five times, firing eight shots at him while Scott had his back turned and didn’t appear to be a threat. Scott died at the scene. Walter Scott, who is black, had fled from Slager, who is white, after a “routine traffic stop,” according to the Charleston Post and Courier. Police said Scott was hit by a Taser and then ran away. Slager claimed he feared for his life after Scott took the Taser from him during an altercation, but the video casts doubt on his version of events.
At about the 1-minute mark of the video, Slager can be seen running over to the original location of the altercation and then dropping an object, possibly the Taser, next to Scott’s body.
Slager was held without bond Tuesday night and is also facing a federal investigation by the Department of Justice.
