SLED: Video confirmed investigators' early suspicions of Walter Scott's death

LIVE 5 WCSC ^ | Apr 10, 2015 | Ray Rivera

[familyop]

"Our agents and crime scene technicians arrived shortly after the incident took place," said SLED Chief Mark Keel."There were inconsistencies including what appeared to be multiple gunshot wounds in Mr. Scott's back. We believed early on that there was something not right about what happened in that encounter. The cell phone video shot by a bystander confirmed our initial suspicions."..."I appreciate that Feidin Santana was worried about his safety and whether he could trust the police after what he saw and captured on his cell phone. I'm grateful he decided not to erase the video. We are eager to discuss the incident with him,"Keel said."We have interviewed Michael Slager, the other officers and others who may have some knowledge of the this incident," Keel said."We will pursue this case until we are confident we have developed as much factual information and evidence as possible to give to prosecutors. We have worked throughout this case with Solicitor Wilson and will continued to do so until the matter is resolved."

Slager was arrested and charged by SLED with murder following an interview Monday afternoon at his then-attorney's office. Slager remains in the Charleston County Detention Center.

[Conscience of a Conservative]

“That puts an end to the conspiracy theory that Slager had taser barbs in his leg and torso”

Facts put an end to a conspiracy theory? Ha!

[DaveA37]

“......... police can shoot fleeing suspects from any fleeing felon”.........

HUH? Please explain.

[bolobaby]

Posting articles with 3 day old information that is likely to change as the investigation continues is a nice attempt at Michael Browning this case.

[Drango]

pulled over by the police and runs-he damn sure risks being shot.

Risks? I guess, but it's not a legal shooting. You've not read Tennessee v Gardner have you?

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=471&invol=1

[redfreedom]

You can’t be serious! So some black guy runs away from a cop, and that automatically qualifies him as a potential murderer that deserves to be shot in the back?

I know of a true story where one of those rogue cops, the power hungry sort, that tased a guy for a traffic violation. The poor guy panicked and fled. This poor guy was terrified.

This bad cop that shot the black guy in the back needs a quick fair trial, then sent into prison and placed with the general population.

The majority of cops out there are good people. Gutter trash like Slager give the good guys a bad name and wind up being distrusted just like Slager type thugs.

[Crim]

The arrest warrant isnt going to change...but nice try.

I’m sure more evidence will surface but probably not till court.

[bjorn14]

In Boy Scouts we were told never try to runaway from a big animal always remain as still and quiet as possible. I guess this should apply to cops as well.

[Lumper20]

When you are stopped by a cop and run you will be lucky if you are not shot.

[Lumper20]

White, Black, or purple I would not run from any cop. Only punks and criminals run from and do not obey authority.

[9YearLurker]

I take that as a ‘yes’.

[Temujinshordes]

Running from a cop is never a great idea and seldom turns out well. Better to stay and address the issue unemotionally or subsequently take it to court if you feel you were wronged.

[chris37]

Maybe, but there is no point in playing what if.

I only want to deal with facts and truth. Police are governed by the same self defense laws that we are. At this time, I can’t see how his actions were within those laws.

[dragnet2]

I just heard that directly after the shooting they gave the officer "days" to think about his version of the event, before he would need answer questions from investigators who were investigating the same event. Could you explain why they would ever do this?

Anyone?

[dragnet2]

Why in tarnation would they give the officer *days* to first think about what he was going to say before completing his statement of the event?

This is unbelievable.

[CodeToad]

So, you think cops should be judge and executioner based on if a person looks or acts guilty? The dead guy was guilty of a crime for which he should be put to death??

Are you really that stupid???

[chris37]

That’s a good question.

I can see giving a couple hours for adrenaline to settle down, but a couple days seems like bad policy to me.

[dragnet2]

Bad policy?

I have never seen or heard anything like this before.

It’s mind bending.

[chris37]

I mean that’s the only way I know to characterize it.

I’m not an expert on police department procedures.

But yeah, why wouldn’t want to get a full account as soon as it’s reasonably possible? What is the point of waiting x number of days, I don’t know.

[dragnet2]

Officer involved shooting statements should obtained as fast as possible for a whole bunch of reasons.

You’ll note in homicides and major crime incidents they’ll interview the entire family, suspects, friends witnesses and officers within hours if possible and or as soon as they are located etc. Even wounded or injured people will be interviewed as quickly as possible.

This reeks really bad.

[chris37]

Yeah, definitely, as fast as possible... but I don’t have any trouble with allowing a bit of time, a few hours tops, for the officer to calm down and get his head on again.

And, as a fan if ID channel and Lt. Joe Kenda, Homicide Hunter, if a victim, family member, or witness is in clear, obvious and extreme distress, I don’t mind giving them a bit of time to get collected. Doing so seems reasonable.

But all that being said, it is very curious how that other officer came up and told him the routine of a couple of days. I don’t know if there is anything, ah, sinister, I guess at work there, but a couple of days is a too much.

I wonder what would have happened if the other officer came up and said, don’t worry, in a couple of days you will be in in a jail cell charged with murder!