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Officer charged with murder after shooting black man eight times as he ran away
*APRIL 08, 2015*2:03PM
South Carolina cop shoots man dead.
*
A WHITE police officer in the US has been charged with murder after a video of the incident appears to show him shooting a black man eight times in the back as he was running away.
The North Charleston officer, Michael Slager, 33, initially told police he pulled over 50-year-old Walter Scott on Saturday, 9.30am, for driving a car with a broken brake light. When Mr Scott took off running, Slager said he ran after him and pulled out his Taser, which then Mr Scott apparently wrestled off him.
Terror ... This footage shows Mr Scott running away as Slager shoots him in the back. Picture: Supplied*Source:*Supplied
It was then that the police officer said he “feared for his life”, and was forced to shoot Mr Scott in defence.
However, a newly leaked video shows Mr Scott running away from Slager, who stands still and shoots him eight times in the back before Mr Scott finally falls down.
Slager then looks around before slowly approaching the fatally wounded Scott, and yells: “put your hands behind your back, put your hands behind your back”.
Slager then moves away from the body, and picks up an item from the ground near where he fired the shots. A second officer then arrives at the scene.
The footage — filmed by an anonymous bystander on their mobile phone — was initially posted by*Charleston’s Post and Courier*on Tuesday.
Slager initially released a statement through his lawyers saying Mr Scott had grabbed his Taser during a scuffle.
A*local TV station said*that in the incident report, officers heard Slager say over the radio that he had used his Taser, and “seconds later”, he said: “Shots fired and the subject is down. He took my Taser.”
On Monday, Slager’s lawyer released this statement: “This is a very tragic event for all of the families.
“I believe once the community hears all the facts of this shooting, they’ll have a better understanding of the circumstances surrounding this investigation.
“Officer Slager believes he followed all the proper procedures and policies of the North Charleston Police Department.”
The North Charleston mayor, Keith Summey, announced the state charges at a news conference yesterday.
He told reporters that Slager had made a “bad decision”.
“When you’re wrong, you’re wrong,” Summey said, as quoted by the*Post and Courier.
“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 South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the state’s criminal investigative body, is investigating the shooting.
The FBI and the Justice Department are also investigating the shooting.
The shooting comes at a tense moment in the US history, which has seen white police officers use lethal force against black citizens in New York, Cleveland and Ferguson.
Last year,*protests erupted across the USafter a grand jury ruled that the white police officer who shot Michael Brown in Ferguson would not be charged over the unarmed black teen’s death.
A week after the Ferguson riots, anotherracially-charged case*involving 43-year-old African American citizen Eric Gardner threatened to ignite the still simmering tensions in the US.
Garner, a father-of-six, died after being placed in a chokehold by New York Police Department officer Daniel Pantaleo while being arrested on suspicion of selling illegal, untaxed cigarettes in Staten Island on July 17.
Cellphone footage of the confrontation showed Garner, who has asthma, complaining “I can’t breathe” after being bundled onto the ground by several police officers before falling unconscious.
Garner was declared dead at a local hospital. A New York medical examiner later ruled the death a homicide caused in part by the chokehold used during the arrest.
Gardner’s death sparked more protests, as well as the brutal killings of two NYPD police office, Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, in revenge.
http://mobile.news.com.au/world/nor...s-as-he-ran-away/story-fnh81jut-1227295371676
That's pretty bad and i have no doubt that there will be a lot of backlash over it. Won't be surprised if there are more riots just like in Ferguson.
*APRIL 08, 2015*2:03PM
South Carolina cop shoots man dead.
*
A WHITE police officer in the US has been charged with murder after a video of the incident appears to show him shooting a black man eight times in the back as he was running away.
The North Charleston officer, Michael Slager, 33, initially told police he pulled over 50-year-old Walter Scott on Saturday, 9.30am, for driving a car with a broken brake light. When Mr Scott took off running, Slager said he ran after him and pulled out his Taser, which then Mr Scott apparently wrestled off him.
Terror ... This footage shows Mr Scott running away as Slager shoots him in the back. Picture: Supplied*Source:*Supplied
It was then that the police officer said he “feared for his life”, and was forced to shoot Mr Scott in defence.
However, a newly leaked video shows Mr Scott running away from Slager, who stands still and shoots him eight times in the back before Mr Scott finally falls down.
Slager then looks around before slowly approaching the fatally wounded Scott, and yells: “put your hands behind your back, put your hands behind your back”.
Slager then moves away from the body, and picks up an item from the ground near where he fired the shots. A second officer then arrives at the scene.
The footage — filmed by an anonymous bystander on their mobile phone — was initially posted by*Charleston’s Post and Courier*on Tuesday.
Slager initially released a statement through his lawyers saying Mr Scott had grabbed his Taser during a scuffle.
A*local TV station said*that in the incident report, officers heard Slager say over the radio that he had used his Taser, and “seconds later”, he said: “Shots fired and the subject is down. He took my Taser.”
On Monday, Slager’s lawyer released this statement: “This is a very tragic event for all of the families.
“I believe once the community hears all the facts of this shooting, they’ll have a better understanding of the circumstances surrounding this investigation.
“Officer Slager believes he followed all the proper procedures and policies of the North Charleston Police Department.”
The North Charleston mayor, Keith Summey, announced the state charges at a news conference yesterday.
He told reporters that Slager had made a “bad decision”.
“When you’re wrong, you’re wrong,” Summey said, as quoted by the*Post and Courier.
“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 South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the state’s criminal investigative body, is investigating the shooting.
The FBI and the Justice Department are also investigating the shooting.
The shooting comes at a tense moment in the US history, which has seen white police officers use lethal force against black citizens in New York, Cleveland and Ferguson.
Last year,*protests erupted across the USafter a grand jury ruled that the white police officer who shot Michael Brown in Ferguson would not be charged over the unarmed black teen’s death.
A week after the Ferguson riots, anotherracially-charged case*involving 43-year-old African American citizen Eric Gardner threatened to ignite the still simmering tensions in the US.
Garner, a father-of-six, died after being placed in a chokehold by New York Police Department officer Daniel Pantaleo while being arrested on suspicion of selling illegal, untaxed cigarettes in Staten Island on July 17.
Cellphone footage of the confrontation showed Garner, who has asthma, complaining “I can’t breathe” after being bundled onto the ground by several police officers before falling unconscious.
Garner was declared dead at a local hospital. A New York medical examiner later ruled the death a homicide caused in part by the chokehold used during the arrest.
Gardner’s death sparked more protests, as well as the brutal killings of two NYPD police office, Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu, in revenge.
http://mobile.news.com.au/world/nor...s-as-he-ran-away/story-fnh81jut-1227295371676
That's pretty bad and i have no doubt that there will be a lot of backlash over it. Won't be surprised if there are more riots just like in Ferguson.
