Posted on 04/07/2015 2:46:55 PM PDT by smokingfrog
The North Charleston police officer who fatally shot a 50-year-old man during a traffic stop on Saturday has been arrested and is being charged with murder.
North Charleston Patrolman First Class Michael Slager, 33, will face the charge in connection with the shooting death of Walter Scott.
That announcement came at a press conference late Tuesday afternoon from North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey who referred to a video someone recorded of the shooting Saturday morning.
The video had been sent to Scott's family and the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division, Summey said.
"As a result of that video and bad decisions made by our officer, he will be charged with murder," Summey said.
"It's been a tragic day," North Charleston Police Chief Eddie Driggers said.
Driggers said the video shows Scott "taking off" and the officer shooting the suspect.
Summey called the video "very demonstrative" and said without the video, it would have been difficult to resolve the issue. Summey said the city is trying to meet with Scott's family and will reach out to them any way they can.
(Excerpt) Read more at live5news.com ...
The “you can’t shoot a suspect in the back” is so late-night-attorney show drivel. Of COURSE you can, if the subject represents a threat to any person.
“Just like the STASI and the Gestapo before them”
Those two worked well due to an unarmed populace. Whole ‘nother ballgame here.
Planting evidence isd agin the law who knew?
Notice he made a effort to drop the taser by the guy after he was handcuffed and bleeding out.
Hard to justify. If this wasn’t a cop, the man would be up the river. If the other guy didn’t have the phone handy, nothing would have happened.
This is why I support all cops having body cams.
Naw, I just saw the video and the cop should go down for it.
That's an interesting question considering your posts so far.
Well, in this case the picture renders the idea of ‘the law’ just a fuzzy feel good platitude spit out by the unknowing.
Looks like that’s what they’re going to charge him with and perhaps leave out lesser charges to ensure he gets off? Don’t know if it’s possible.
He won’t be convicted of murder one. Ever. Lesser charge most certainly like the harshest level of manslaughter still brings many years of prision time.
Murder in the first requires malice aforethought. That’s going to be tough to prove if they’ve never even met before.
He shouldn’t have shot him at all, but if he had to ONE shot would have stopped him.
8 shots is an extrajudicial execution.
The DA will intentionally mount a terrible case, the murderer will skate, the town will burn, and the jury will be blamed.
“Murder in the first requires malice aforethought. That’s going to be tough to prove if they’ve never even met before.”
Indeed. they probably don’t even know what the exact charges will ultimately be at this point. also, in some states the jury can convict for reduced charges, so say, they did bring murder one, in S.C. a jury might could go for aggravated manslaughter or some such.
“Here’s a thought, don’t flee police making a lawful traffic stop, fight with them, and then use one of their weapons AGAINST THEM, and you won’t get shot.”
Agreed. but fortunately it is in fact cold-blooded murder when a cop shoots someone in the back fleeing from a broken taillight stop. oh, and then lies through his teeth about it.
“What took place prior to the shooting is extremely relevant. “
doesn’t matter one whit. it’s clear the cop shot the UNARMED dude down in cold blood in the back from 50 yards away while the dude was running away from the cop. that’s cold blooded murder by anyone’s definition.
http://www.postandcourier.com/article/20150407/PC16/150409468
Cop’s version BEFORE the video came out:
Officer’s account
Slager said earlier this week in the statement from his attorney at the time that his encounter with Scott had started around 9:30 a.m. Saturday 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 over a dirt-surfaced road near a small park, 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 police have said, though, that they tried desperately to save Scott until paramedics showed up.
The cop tried to place the taser near the body to cover his initial account above.
Read the statement from the police chief and watch the video.
Congratulations, the other 20% of the time you've just murdered someone who was no longer a threat.
As for why he ran, reports are now saying that he was behind on child support and in that jurisdiction you can go to jail for it. Is that a capital offense in your mind?
He wasn’t shot for “fleeing from a broken taillight stop,” he was shot as a felon for attacking an officer and then fleeing the scene.
Utterly astounded to see some posts here that don’t understand that this was a cold-blooded execution.
The more it pumps, the more he bleeds. Bled out, all the CPR in the world won't bring him back. With eight shots in him he's likely leaking like a sieve and CPR won't fix that (It's not like on TV). Blood loss is likely the reason his heart quit, if it wasn't hit.
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