The cop, identified as 33-year-old Michael Slager, shot 50-year-old Walter Scott a total of five times

Apr 8, 2015 12:04 GMT  ·  By

Over the weekend, on April 11, a police officer in South Carolina, US, shot and killed an unarmed black man. The cop shot the man while he was running away from him and put as many as five bullets in his back, a video of the incident shows. 

The footage, available below, emerged just yesterday. Shortly after, the police officer was arrested and charged with murder. Interestingly, the South Carolina cop's initial account of the shooting and the video don't really see eye to eye.

The police officer's story

It is understood that, early Saturday morning, the cop, identified as 33-year-old Michael Slager, pulled over the victim, 50-year-old Coast Guard veteran Walter Scott, over a broken tail light.

Following the shooting, the officer said that, once out of his car, Walter Scott tried to make a run for it. When this didn't work, he attempted to grab hold of his stun gun. In response, Michael Slager pulled out his pistol and fired.

Thus, when first questioned about the incident, the 33-year-old South Carolina cop claimed that he only shot 50-year-old Walter Scott because he felt threatened by him.

What the video shows

The footage that emerged just yesterday does not show Walter Scott trying to leave the police officer without his stun gun or attacking him in other way. It does, however, show the man running away from the cop.

At one point, Michael Slager points his pistol at the man's back and fires a total of eight shots. Of these, five hit the intended target and the 50-year-old man collapses to the ground. The cop then handcuffs him.

A while later, other police officers arrive at the scene of the shooting, and the man is pronounced dead. By the looks of it, nobody even tried to help save 50-year-old Walter Scott's life.

It is believed that the Coast Guard veteran only tried to run away from the cop because he owed child support and feared that he would be sent to jail until he managed to pay this debt.

Reactions to the video

As mentioned, the video led to the arrest of 33-year-old Michael Slager. The man now stands accused of murder, and given the overwhelming evidence against him, he will surely be sent to prison. He might even be sentenced to death.

“This was a cop who felt like he could get away with just shooting anybody that many times in the back,” a representative of Walter Scott's family told the press in an interview, as cited by DM.

Although the video clearly shows Michael Slager shooting Walter Scott as the man was running away from him, unarmed and not knowing that a pistol was pointing his way, the cop insists that he followed protocol to the letter.

*The footage below contains graphic scenes of violence and can upset sensitive audience, so viewer discretion is recommended.