The death of Walter Scott , a black American, occurred on April 4, 2015 in North Charleston , South Carolina . Runaway Scott was shot in the back by Michael Sluger, North Charleston Police Officer. Sluger was charged with murder after a video was posted that contradicted the information he provided in the police report. The video captures a scene of shooting in the back against an unarmed runaway man.
| Walter Scott | |
|---|---|
 While serving in the army, the 80s. | |
| date | 04/04/2015 |
| A place | |
| Coordinates | |
| Cause | Gunshot wounds |
| Filmed | Police car dvr shooting event witnesses |
| Members | Walter Scott, Michael Sluger |
| Result | The death of Walter Scott |
| Dead | one |
| Accused (e) | Michael Slager, Police Officer |
| Trial | Scheduled for October 2016 |
On June 8, 2015, a grand jury accused Slager of murder. In January 2016, he was released on bail, and court hearings are scheduled for October of the same year.
Content
Event participants and scene
Walter Scott
Walter Lamar Scott (February 09, 1965 - April 4, 2015), a black man of fifty years old, worked as a forklift truck , trained as a massage therapist [1] . He served in the US Coast Guard for two years and was fired for a drug incident in 1986 [2] .
He had conflicts with the law: ten arrests, in particular, for contempt of court, failure to appear at court hearings, assault, possession of cold steel [3] .
Michael Slager
Michael Thomas Slager (born November 14, 1981), 33 years old at the time of the incident, served five years and five months at the North Charleston Police Department. Before the police, he served in the US Coast Guard [4] .
Location
The North Charleston feature is the following: 80% of local policemen are white Americans, while at the same time they make up only 37% of the total population of North Charleston [5] .
Local residents also complained about the frequent use of tasers and prejudice against African Americans [6] .
Death
On April 4, 2015 at 9:30 a.m., Walter Scott was stopped by Michael Slager due to a malfunctioning brake light [7] . Scott was driving a 1991 Mercedes and, assuring the brother of the deceased, was heading to an auto parts store [8] . The video recorder in a police car filmed as Sluger approached Scott's car, had a conversation with him, and then returned to the patrol car. Scott gets out of the car and starts to run away. Sluger pursues him (on foot).
The policeman caught up with Scott, after which a fight ensued between them. According to the police report and the assurance of the official authorities, Slager fired a taser. Scott ran, and Slager used his weapon, firing eight shots in the back. According to a Scott family attorney, the coroner documented five hits. The autopsy results were not published.
Immediately after the shooting, Slager informed the dispatcher that he shot the suspect, and he fell, and also that the suspect snatched a taser from Slager.
During the shots, Scott was 5-6 meters from the policeman. In the report, Slager indicated that he was afraid for his life due to the fact that Scott took his stun gun, and therefore opened fire.
Consequences
Investigation
The use of weapons in cases where a suspect escapes from a policeman was the subject of a lawsuit in the US Supreme Court , Tennessee v . Garner .
Independent investigations were conducted by several agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the US Federal Attorney in South Carolina.
Accusations
After the police evaluated the video evidence [3] , Slager was arrested on April 7, 2015, and was charged with murder. [9] .
On June 8, 2015, the South Carolina Grand Jury agreed to charge Slagher with murder after hours of discussion [10] . In the case of a conviction for the offense, the former policeman faces a sentence of 30 years to life, without the right to parole [11] .
On January 4, 2016, after almost nine months of detention, Slager was released on bail of $ 500,000. He is under house arrest until the start of the trial, scheduled for October 31, 2016 [12] .
Litigation
Scheduled for October 31, 2016 [12] .
Sentence
In December 2017, Slager was sentenced to 20 years in prison. [13]
See also
- The death of Lacuan MacDonald
- The death of Eric Garner
- The death of Michael Brown
- The death of Freddy Gray
- The killing of Tamir Rice
- The murder of New York Police Department officers in 2014
Notes
- ↑ FRANCES ROBLES, ALAN BLINDER. Pastor Denounces Racism at Walter Scott's Funeral One Week After Police Shooting . The New York Times (04/11/2015). Date of treatment February 24, 2016.
- ↑ Colin Campbell. Walter Scott, killed by SC officer, served in Coast Guard at Curtis Bay . The Baltimore Sun (04/09/2015). Date of treatment February 24, 2016.
- ↑ 1 2 MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT, MATT APUZZO. South Carolina Officer Is Charged With Murder of Walter Scott . The New York Times (04/07/2015). Date of treatment February 24, 2016.
- ↑ Ray Sanchez. Officer Michael Thomas Slager of South Carolina: What we know about him . CNN (04/10/2015). Date of treatment February 24, 2016.
- ↑ Simon McCormack. Demographics Of North Charleston Police Department Tell A Familiar Story . The Huffington Post (08/04/2015). Date of treatment February 24, 2016.
- ↑ Michael Daly. 'Taser Town' And The Shots Heard 'Round The World' . The Daily Beast (08/04/2015). Date of treatment February 24, 2016.
- ↑ Andrew Knapp. To North Charleston police critics, dash video strikes at heart of problem (04/09/2015). Date of treatment February 29, 2016.
- ↑ Large crowd attends funeral for Walter Scott, man shot by SC police officer charged with murder . Cleveland (04/11/2015). Date of treatment February 29, 2016.
- ↑ Michael Martinez. South Carolina cop shoots unarmed man: A timeline . CNN (04/09/2015). Date of treatment February 26, 2016.
- ↑ Indictment against Michael Thomas Slager . The Los Angeles Times (06/08/2015). Date of treatment February 26, 2016.
- ↑ ALAN BLINDER, TIMOTHY WILLIAMS. Ex-South Carolina Officer Is Indicted in Shooting Death of Black Man . The New York Time (06/08/2015). Date of treatment February 26, 2016.
- ↑ 1 2 Andrew Knapp. Michael Slager, officer charged in Walter Scott shooting, released on $ 500K bail . The Post And Courier (01/04/2016). Date of treatment February 26, 2016.
- ↑ Jamiles Lartey. Former officer Michael Slager sentenced to 20 years for murder of Walter Scott . the Guardian (December 7, 2017). Date of appeal April 11, 2018.