The bystander who used his phone to film the shooting of Walter Scott on Saturday told NBC News he began recording after hearing a Taser being deployed, and knew right away that he "had something on my hands."
Feidin Santana said he saw Scott and Officer Michael Slager, who was fired from the North Charleston, South Carolina, police department on Wednesday, struggle before the shooting, but Slager had control of the situation before he fired eight times. "Scott was trying just to get away from the Taser," Santana told Lester Holt. "As you can see in the video, the police officer just shot him in the back."
Santana said when he gave the video to Scott's family, "they were very emotional." He said the situation is not something a person can "feel happy about," as Slager, who was arrested and charged with murder on Tuesday, and Scott both have families affected by what happened. "I think...he [the officer] made a bad decision, and you pay for your decisions in this life," he added. "Mr. Scott didn't deserve this, and there were other ways that can be used to get him arrested, and that wasn't the proper way to do that."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Australian woman found guilty of mushroom murdersspeed read Erin Patterson murdered three of her ex-husband's relatives by serving them toxic death cap mushrooms
-
Combs convicted on 2 of 5 charges, denied bailSpeed Read Sean 'Diddy' Combs was acquitted of the more serious charges of racketeering and sex trafficking
-
Sniper kills 2 Idaho firefighters in ambushSpeed Read A man started a wildfire, then fired a rifle at first responders when they arrived
-
Weinstein convicted of sex crime in retrialSpeed Read The New York jury delivered a mixed and partial verdict at the disgraced Hollywood producer's retrial
-
'King of the Hill' actor shot dead outside homespeed read Jonathan Joss was fatally shot by a neighbor who was 'yelling violent homophobic slurs,' says his husband
-
DOJ, Boulder police outline attacker's confessionspeed read Mohamed Sabry Soliman planned the attack for a year and 'wanted them all to die'
-
Assailant burns Jewish pedestrians in Boulderspeed read Eight people from the Jewish group were hospitalized after a man threw Molotov cocktails in a 'targeted act of violence'
-
Driver rams van into crowd at Liverpool FC paradespeed read 27 people were hospitalized following the attack
