JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – South Carolina police Officer Michael Slager has been fired for shooting Walter Scott in the back, killing him.
He's also charged with murder.
A video shows Slager, who is white, shooting Scott, a 50-year-old black man, eight times as Scott has his back to him and is running away after a traffic stop Saturday in North Charleston. It appears that Scott was unarmed.
Scott initially said he used a Taser on Scott and that Scott tried to take away that Taser. But the video shows a different story.
Before the officer started firing his gun, a dark object can be seen falling behind him. It's not clear if it's the Taser.
"It seems at one point Mr. Scott may have grabbed the officer's Taser and thrown it down, and then he started running," News4Jax crime and safety analyst Gil Smith said. "Now if he had made a move toward the officer with the Taser, then he would have been justified in shooting him. Or if he had just been in close proximity with him, not even threatening him, but started wrestling, then he would have been justified in using deadly force."
Later in the video, Slager approaches Scott's body and drops a dark object next to the man. It's also not clear if that object is a Taser.
"That tells me that officer knew that he should not have shot, that he didn't act properly, or else he wouldn't have been trying to change the crime scene," Smith said.
A man walking to work recorded the video and gave it to Scott's family.
Jacksonville-area attorney Rhonda Peoples-Waters said the video will be enhanced by experts.
"When you have the video, it will speak for itself, and it will resonate in the mind of the jurors, unlike someone trying to tell the stories themselves," Peoples-Waters said.
Peoples-Waters, who isn't connected with the case, said the video shows a lot but that questions still remain.
"What it doesn't show is the initial encounter with the officer and the deceased man," Peoples-Waters Said. "It also does not show what the officer is talking about as far as the deceased reaching and trying to get his Taser gun."
The shooting might bring back memories of 22-year-old Devanta Jones, who was shot by a Jacksonville sheriff's officer at the Cleveland Arms Apartments late last month.
The shooting sparked protests – as did the shooting of Scott in South Carolina.
But investigators said Jones was involved in a domestic dispute with his girlfriend, that he busted into an apartment with a woman and her three children inside, and that officers deployed Tasers three times before one drew a gun and fired.
As for the Scott case, Peoples-Waters said if the enhanced video reveals Slager dropped the Taser close to Scott's body, that will also support charges of intentional murder. There will be questions as to whether the killing was intentional -- or if the deadly shooting was disregard for human life.
If convicted of murder, Slager, who was an employee of the North Charleston Police Department for five years, could face life in prison or the death penalty. He will remain in jail until a circuit court sets his bond. A date has not been set for that hearing.
The police chief of North Charleston and the mayor have visited Scott's family.
Slager's wife is eight months pregnant, and the city will continue to pay for her health insurance until the baby is born.