Police in South Carolina have released new footage of the moments leading up to the fatal police shooting of an unarmed black man.
Michael Slager shot Walter Scott in the back eight times as he tried to run away, and was charged with murder after a video emerged which contradicted his version of events. If convicted, Slager could face the death penalty.
The new dash cam footage shows Slager pulling Scott over for a routine traffic violation and the initial interaction between the two men.
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Slager is seen approaching the vehicle and asking for Scott's driving license and registration. Scott then tells him he doesn't have the required documents and Slager returns to his patrol car. Scott attempts to get out his car, but is told to remain in the vehicle. He then flees the scene, out of range of the dash cam.
Court papers show that Scott owed back payments on child support totalling more than $18,000, and his family has suggested that may have been his motivation to run, CNN reports.
"This dash cam footage does not change the fact that the officer shot and killed Mr Scott," the family's lawyer Justin Bamberg said."That shooting was completely unjustified."
It has also emerged that Slager had previously been accused of using excessive force against another unarmed black man. Mario Givens says he was beaten up and repeatedly Tasered by Slager in 2013.
Rallies have been held in North Charleston with protesters chanting "Black lives matter" and "No justice! No peace!" in response to the latest in a series of police shootings of unarmed black men.
Police officer charged with murdering black man in South Carolina
April 8
A white police officer from South Carolina has been charged with murder after a video surfaced showing him shooting an apparently unarmed black man in the back as he ran away.
The shooting happened after Officer Michael Slager pulled over Walter Scott for having a broken tail light on his car, according to the police report. Scott then apparently fled, and the officer shot him with a Taser. Slager reported on his radio: "Shots fired and the subject is down. He took my Taser."
However, the video which was shot by a bystander shows a different chain of events. The footage shows a brief struggle between the two men, after which Scott runs away. Something, it is unclear whether it is the Taser, is knocked behind the two men. Officer Slager then opens fire.
"When the officer fires, Mr Scott appears to be 15 to 20 feet away and fleeing," the New York Times reports. "He falls after the last of eight shots." Slager later reported that he had feared for his life.
The video then shows the officer running back to the scene of the scuffle, picking up an object and dropping it beside Scott's body. According to police reports, Slager then attempted to perform CPR on Scott, but the video footage contradicts this.
(Warning: video contains graphic footage. Walter Scott was shot in the back several times as he fled)
The state's criminal investigative body, the FBI and the Justice department have each launched separate investigations into the shooting.
"When you're wrong, you're wrong," Mayor Keith Summey told journalists. "And if you make a bad decision, [I] don't care if you're behind the shield or just a citizen on the street, you have to live by that decision."
The latest shooting comes in the wake of several police killings in the US which have sparked nationwide protest and debate about police officers' use of deadly force, particularly on unarmed black men. President Obama sent his attorney general to several cities across the country in an attempt to improve police relations with minority communities.
US police officers kill hundreds of people every year, but only a handful of cases result in the officer facing criminal charges, the BBC reports.
Scott's family said that because of the video, "we have received the truth" and "through the process, justice has been served".
