Walter Scott Shooting: S.C. Earns Third Notch for White Cops Killing Unarmed Blacks in 2015

By R. Siva Kumar - 09 Apr '15 13:36PM

Thirty-three-year-old Michael Slager is the third white cop accused of shooting an unarmed African American man in South Carolina.

In his defence, Patrolman Michael Slager of North Charleston had told his colleagues that the unarmed black father-of-four had "grabbed my Taser," just a few moments after shooting him dead. It was recorded in a chilling audio recording, in which the officer tells the dispatcher: "Shots fire. subject is down. He grabbed my Taser," according to dailymail.

It is now Slager's turn to be fired---in another way---by North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey. The Mayor announced at a tense news conference that officer Michael Slager, 33, had been dismissed from the city's police department, even as dozens of demonstrators gathered at the local City Hall.

Summey added that the rest of the police force in North Charleston will soon get body cameras, according to france24.

Meanwhile, the city's Police Chief Eddie Driggers asked the public to remain calm. "I have been praying for peace, peace for the family and peace for this community," he said. "We do not condone wrong," says North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey

Slager was indicted in another police complaint in 2013 after he reportedly "tased a man for no reason" before he was thrown to the ground and dragged, said the North Charleston Police Department, according to cnn.

Scott's firing was the latest among several police shootings of black men over the past year in cities including New York, Ferguson, Missouri and Cleveland, Ohio. The incidents have stirred debate across the United States about the police's use of lethal force and race relations, drawing in even President Barack Obama.

Saturday's shooting was because Slager, who joined the department in 2009, stopped Scott for a broken brake light.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the US Department of Justice are investigating Scott's shooting. Civil rights leaders called for calm, and many people praised the courage of the witness who filmed the killing and gave the video to Scott's family.

Holding signs that read "The whole world is watching" and "Back turned, don't shoot," protesters at North Charleston's City Hall said Scott's death should not be viewed as an isolated incident.

It was the 11^th incident that involved a police officer in South Carolina, as well as in North Charleston, said Thom Berry, spokesman for the state's law enforcement division. No one was injured in the prior incident in the city in January, he said.

The video shows how Slager and Scott have an altercation before Scott began to run away. Slager aims his handgun at him and then shoots his back eight times.

A police report says that Slager told other officers that Scott took his stun gun from him.

But Scott is not shown with arms at any point in the video. Slager is shown placing Scott in handcuffs even after he lies on the ground, and then the officer heads back to the original spot where he started firing. He then picks something up, returns to Scott, and then drops it next to him on the ground.