It’s with great sadness that we should, once again, report the shooting and killing of an unarmed black man at the hands of a white police officer.
A South Carolina cop, Michael Slager, has been charged with the shooting and killing of Walter Scott, 50, after video footage surfaced revealing that Scott was actually running away when Slager shot him in the back.
A South Carolina officer has been charged with murder after a video surfaced that appears to show him shooting an unarmed man who was running away.
Michael Slager, an officer with the North Charleston Police Department, was arrested Tuesday, according to a statement from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, or SLED. If found guilty of murder, he could face up to life in prison or death.
The shooting took place Saturday morning after a traffic stop, SLED said. Video obtained by The New York Times shows what happened.
A black man, identified as 50-year-old Walter Scott, breaks away from the white officer. Something falls, and the officer fires eight shots at the man as he runs away. Scott, who appears to be unarmed, drops to the ground.
“I can tell you that as the result of that video and the bad decision made by our officer, he will be charged with murder,” North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey told reporters Tuesday. “When you’re wrong, you’re wrong. And if you make a bad decision — don’t care if you’re behind the shield or just a citizen on the street — you have to live by that decision.”
Scott was remembered by his brother as loving, kind and outgoing, somebody who “knew everybody.” He spent two years in the Coast Guard, and had four children.
“All we wanted was the truth,” said Anthony Scott. “I don’t think that all police officers are bad cops, but there are some bad ones out there, and I don’t want to see anyone get shot down the way that my brother got shot down.” – CNN
Continue reading the full story via CNN.com.
Watch the disturbing footage of the tragic shooting below and share your thoughts.
