North Charleston officer faces murder charge after video shows him shooting man in back

Post and Currier – by Andrew Knapp

A white North Charleston police officer was arrested on a murder charge and the FBI opened a civil rights investigation Tuesday after video surfaced of the lawman shooting eight times at a 50-year-old black man as he ran away.

Walter L. Scott died Saturday after Patrolman 1st Class Michael T. Slager, 33, shot him in the back.  

The video 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 Scott ran from a traffic stop. It was the first piece of evidence contradicting a statement that Slager released earlier this week through his attorney.

The U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement that FBI investigators would work with the State Law Enforcement Division, which typically investigates officer-involved shootings in South Carolina, and the state’s attorney general to investigate any civil rights violations in Scott’s death. North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey said during a news conference that Slager had made a “bad decision.”

“When you’re wrong, you’re wrong,” Summey said. “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.”

The three-minute clip starts shaky, but it steadies as Slager and Scott appear to be grabbing at each other’s hands.

Slager has said through his attorney that Scott had wrested his Taser from him during a struggle.

The video appears to show Scott slapping at the officer’s hands as several objects fall to the ground. It’s not clear what the objects are.

Scott starts running away. Wires from Slager’s Taser stretch from Scott’s clothing to the officer’s hands.

With Scott more than 10 feet from Slager, the officer draws his pistol and fires seven times in rapid succession. After a brief pause, the officer fires one last time. Scott’s back bows, and he falls face first to the ground near a tree.

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 Scott’s side.

Scott died there.

Deputy Coroner Brittney Martin was not immediately available Tuesday to confirm how many times Scott was shot.

At the time, Scott was wanted for arrest on a Family Court warrant, Charleston County sheriff’s Maj. Eric Watson said Tuesday.

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 an assault and battery charge in 1987.

The mayor and Police Chief Eddie Driggers expressed sympathies to Scott’s family. Driggers grew emotional as he referred to his police officers as his children.

“It’s been a tragic day for many, a tragic day for me,” Driggers said. “It is not reflective of this entire police department. … One does not throw a blanket across the many.”

Attorney David Aylor, who released a statement on Slager’s behalf earlier this week, said Tuesday that he wasn’t representing the officer anymore.

It was not immediately clear whether Slager had hired a new lawyer. An attempt to contact Slager before his arrest was not successful.

“This is a terrible tragedy that has impacted our community,” his former attorney said.

National sentiment

The footage comes amid a discussion about race and policing in the U.S. fueled by the fatal shooting in August of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo.

Brown, an 18-year-old black man, was unarmed at the time, but witnesses said he got into a struggle with Officer Darren Wilson, who is white, and was shot during the scuffle.

Though a grand jury did not find any reason to indict Wilson, the shooting ignited protests, some of which turned violent. A “black lives matter” movement inspired talk about whether police nationwide resort to deadly force too quickly against black men.

During the wave of sentiment that prompted rallies in the Charleston area, a state trooper was captured on video shooting a man who had reached for his driver’s license during a Columbia traffic stop. The trooper was arrested.

Community leaders in North Charleston stressed the need for calm in the aftermath of Scott’s death. The North Charleston Police Department has fought accusations in past years that aggressive enforcement tactics have unfairly targeted poor, black communities.

Slager, a former Coast Guardsman, served for more than five years with the department without being disciplined, his attorney said.

Two people filed complaints against Slager during his time with the force, including one man who said the policeman shot him with a Taser for no reason in September 2013. Internal investigators, though, exonerated the officer of any wrongdoing.

Ed Bryant, the president of the North Charleston chapter of the NAACP, was taken aback by a description of the video. He had not seen it, he said.

But he encouraged investigators and prosecutors to pursue justice in Scott’s death and urge openness from the authorities.

“If he was running away, how does that pose the need for deadly force?” Bryant said. “If he’s leaving, they should just pursue him. But shooting him? That’s another story.”

Pastor Thomas Dixon said that he has not yet seen the video but said that “it’s necessary to expect that there may be some sort of community reaction.”

Dixon added that he is concerned about outsiders coming into the community to incite violence and rallies. He said the outcry of anger so often ends up “tearing down our communities,” and emotions should be diverted to something more constructive than violence.

“Good people get caught up with crazy people,” he said. “The smart reaction is to just gather and peacefully let your voice be heard without any foolishness or craziness.”

Dwight James, executive director of the S.C. State Conference of the NAACP, said leaders were gathering in Columbia on Tuesday afternoon to discuss the case.

James said he was looking forward to all the facts coming out.

“We’re in touch with law enforcement on multiple levels,” he said. “The last feedback I got was that (the officer) was not talking.”

Officer’s account

Slager said earlier this week in the statement from his attorney at the time that his encounter with Scott had started Saturday morning as a routine traffic stop.

His department said he pulled over Scott’s Mercedes-Benz sedan near Remount and Craig roads because it had a broken brake light. But at some point, Scott ran away with Slager in pursuit on foot. Scott’s passenger stayed with the Mercedes.

During the foot chase, Scott confronted Slager, according to the lawyer’s statement. Slager got out his Taser to subdue the man, but Scott took the device during a struggle, the statement said. That’s when the officer fired at Scott several times because he “felt threatened,” it added.

The bystander’s cellphone camera continued to roll as Slager stands over Scott and another officer puts on gloves.

“(Expletive) abuse,” the cameraman says. “(Expletive) abuse.”

During the 21/2 minutes after the shooting until the end of the video, the backup officer lifts up Scott’s shirt to check his wounds. But no one immediately starts CPR.

The video ends with Slager standing next to Scott, who was still face down, and checking the dying man’s pulse.

Summey, the city’s mayor, said the cameraman handed over the footage to Scott’s family, who gave it to SLED. City officials reviewed it late Tuesday afternoon.

The mayor said that the case could have ended differently if it weren’t for the footage. But Summey said he couldn’t speculate about what would have happened.

“Without the video … it would be difficult for us to ascertain exactly what did occur,” Summey said. “We want to thank the young person who came forward … because it has helped us resolve the issue.”

North Charleston Pastor Nelson Rivers, who is a vice president in the Rev. Al Sharpton’s National Action Network, called the cameraman a “hero.”

Rivers said he was alarmed by the ease at which the officer shot Scott. He called it disturbing for the officer to show so little about “what life means.” He called it “sobering and evil.”

“If not for the video, we would still be following the narrative from the officer,” Rivers said. “If not for this video, the story would be entirely different.”

Glenn Smith, Melissa Boughton, Christina Elmore, Brenda Rindge, Cleve O’Quinn and Schuyler Kropf contributed to this report. Reach Andrew Knapp at 937-5414 or twitter.com/offlede.

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