North Charleston police officer Michael Slager is seen in an undated photo released by the Charleston County Sheriff's Office in Charleston Heights, South Carolina.
IN PHOTO: North Charleston police officer Michael Slager is seen in an undated photo released by the Charleston County Sheriff's Office in Charleston Heights, South Carolina. Slager will be charged with murder over the shooting death of a black man who appeared to be fleeing from him, local authorities said on Tuesday. REUTERS/Charleston County Sheriff's Office/Handout via Reuters

A police officer in South Carolina, U.S. has been charged with murder on Tuesday after a video of him shooting an African-American man eight times in the back surfaces. Michael T. Slager, who claimed he feared for his life after Walter L. Scott took his stun gun, was fired from the force following the exposé.

The 33-year-old officer cried self-defence after killing Scott on Saturday. It all started when Slager pulled over Scott for a broken taillight. When Slager found out the 50-year-old had an arrest warrant from the Family Court, Scott allegedly fled on foot. Slager chased after him.

On Monday, Slager’s then-lawyer David Aylor released a statement, explaining why Slager shot the other man dead. Apparently, Slager felt threatened when Scott tried to grab his stun gun.

However, a video recorded by an onlooker has surfaced, showing the police officer firing his gun at Scott eight times as the civilian ran away from him.

The clip, obtained by the New York Times, begins wobbly but eventually steadies just when Scott is seen slapping the officer’s hand. It isn’t clear what Slager was holding as there seems to be several objects that fell to the ground. He then runs away from Slager, who shoots at him multiple times in quick succession. By the eighth shot, Scott, who appears to be unarmed, falls to the ground face first.

Slager then talks to someone on his radio and calmly walks to Scott to handcuff the fallen man just as another officer runs to Scott’s side. The clip also shows Slager jogging back to where he shot Scott and picking up something from the ground. He walks back to Scott and drops an object. The video fails to clearly show if Slager picked up the object later. Scott died there.

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Following the video’s release, Slager has been fired from his post and charged with murder. He has been denied bail. If convicted, he could face 30 years to life imprisonment.

North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey spoke of the incident at a news conference, announcing he has ordered body cameras for every uniformed policemen. He added state investigators are onto the case.

“When you’re wrong, you’re wrong,” the mayor told reporters. “When you make a bad decision, don’t care if you’re behind the shield or a citizen on the street, you have to live with that decision.”

Upon watching the video, Police Chief Eddie Driggers was forced not to take Slager’s side as well. “I have watched the video. And I was sickened by what I saw. And I have not watched it since.” He appealed to the people not to judge the whole police department by the action of one.

Slager’s attorney also quit. Aylor took him as client on Saturday just after the shooting but has dropped after the video emerged. Bound by attorney-client privilege, Aylor couldn’t disclose what transpired during his brief representation of Slager. However, he maintained he did not know about the video before it was released.

“I can’t say what my client did and didn’t tell me, but I can tell you that I was not aware of the video, and I’m still not aware of who filmed the video, where the video came from, how the video got disclosed and who it was disclosed to first,” the lawyer told the Daily Beast.

Scott’s family was grateful for the authorities’ swift action to case but wondered what would have happened if the video did not exist. “What if there was no video? What if there was no witness, or hero as I call him, to come forward?” their attorney, L. Chris Stewart, said.

Scott and Slager

Scott had an arrest warrant from a Family Court. According to the Post and Courier, he had a history of arrests related to contempt of court charges for not paying child support. He had been accused of violence once in 1987 when he was charged with assault and battery.

Slager has been with the department for five years. He was never disciplined during his time of service, but he received two complaints from people, including from a man who claimed Slager shot him using his stun gun for no reason in September 2013. Slager served as a Coast Guardsman prior to being a police officer.

Although Slager has been dismissed from service, the town will continue to pay for his insurance because his wife is expecting a child.

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