Officer Slager Charged with Murder in Video Recorded Shooting

On April 4th, 50 year old, Walter Scott was gunned down by Police Officer Michael Slager after being pulled over for what was initially a routine traffic stop. During the confrontation, Scott took off running and Officer Slager shot him in the back 8 times. Slager then proceeded to yell ” place your hands behind your back” as Scott lay on the grass face down, wounded. After hand cuffing him, Slager reported on his radio,” shots fired and the subject is down, he took my taser.” Although, reports have clarified that Scott was in fact unarmed. 

Many are calling this situation law enforcement gone awry. 

Some say the reason Scott might have ran when he was pulled over by police was because he knew there was a warrant for his arrest. He was late on child support payments and was previously arrested for that same reason. However, his record does not show that he was a violent person or that he had been arrested before for any other reason then not paying his child support. 

An eyewitness caught a video of the incident on their cellular phone, which was used as evidence against officer Slager once the case was brought to court. Slager’s first lawyer quit after video was released online. He was found guilty and charged with first degree murder.