Dash cam video shows officer pursuing man [Walter Scott] before shooting

Associated Press via AOL ^ | 4-9-15 | JEFFREY S. COLLINS and MICHAEL BIESECKER

[smokingfrog]

Dash cam video of a traffic stop provided the world with another piece of evidence Thursday in a fatal police shooting. It showed no indication of any physical or verbal threats before the driver bolts and the officer chases after him.

The video, released Thursday by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, shows what begins as a seemingly routine stop for a broken tail light. The officer, Michael Slager, approaches the used Mercedes-Benz driven by Walter Lamer Scott, and asks for license and registration. There's a brief exchange, and the officer returns to his cruiser.

Scott then takes off running.

[9thLife]

We don’t shoot them for fun.

We do turn them into cult heroes.

[Half Vast Conspiracy]

You’re not thinking clearly. Perhaps you should lay off the cop gargle.

[Oliviaforever]

“The guy who took the cell phone video said they were rolling around on the ground when he first spotted them.”

I missed that fact.

Do you have a link to any article that quotes Mr. Santana stating that the cop and guy who ended up dead were rolling on the ground?

[BitWielder1]

It looks like there was a passenger in the car. I did not see it mentioned anywhere.

[GOPJ]

Police aren't allowed to be judge, jury and executioner... that's against the law. The cop was wrong... and yeah it matters.

[A CA Guy]

No, the country does not.

[Gay State Conservative]

Why does one run from a stop for a broken tail light? Warrants? Drugs?

[9thLife]

that really does’t answer the question, though.

[9thLife]

We must be in alternative universes, FRiend.

[Brandonmark]

The dash cam video shows a passenger seated in the Mercedes who never moved. Anyone hear what happened to that individual?

[Half Vast Conspiracy]

So you feel it is a common occurrence for a man, pulled over for a routine traffic violation, to jump out of the car and run for no apparent reason?

From my vast experience...watching ...yes.

[babygene]

“I’m stating a fact and I don’t give a flying flip whether you’re ashamed of that or not.”

I wasn’t questioning what you were stating, I have questions about what you were suggesting. What the dead guy did or did not do prior to running away and the cop pulling the trigger is completely irrelevant.

Let’s assume (just for grins) that the cop recolonized him as the dude who raped his daughter the night before. IT WOULDN’T MATTER OR CHANE ANYTHING, It’s still murder...

[LostInBayport]

Why does one run from a stop for a broken tail light? Warrants? Drugs?

I believe I heard, probably on a talk show somewhere, that Scott had warrants of some kind for unpaid child support.

[Michael.SF.]

Dropping the taser is the key to the degree of the charge against him: he tried to cover up his actions therefore he is guilty.

And I would agree that murder is the charge warranted for his actions.

[GeronL]

Just today in San Marcos TX a trooper pulled a truck over, then it tried to speed away he shot the tire out, they -two Hispanic men- fled on foot. (How they got away on foot, I dunno, its pretty rural and wide open there)

[Gay State Conservative]

Is there another country anywhere that is more obsessed with the way it treats career criminals?

Have we established that he was,in fact,a "career criminal"?

[Starstruck]

There are still a couple minutes with no video. The guy who took the cell phone video said they were rolling around on the ground when he first spotted them.

So? He was still running away. He was not a threat to the officer. Life surely has to be of more importance than being disrespected.

[cripplecreek]

The cop was being very polite and professional in what is seen on this video.

The only time he raised his voice was the first time Scott opened the door and stood up.

As far as planting evidence is concerned, I've seen video of Slager dropping the taser on the ground but he later picks it up and puts it on his belt. I don't know if that was planting evidence or just dropping it on the ground and picking it back up due to adrenaline. That will all be in the report he filed and what the second officer filed when he showed up.

[Blood of Tyrants]

Scott wasn’t a “career criminal”. He had been arrested multiple times for failure to pay child support. Hardly the charges of a dangerous man.

[Tired of Taxes]

According to reports, yes, there was a passenger.

I didn’t know that, either, until I saw this video.