White cop charged in fatal shooting of black motorist

A white police officer was charged with murder Tuesday in the shooting death of a black motorist during a traffic stop.

Patrolman Michael Thomas Slager was arrested after law enforcement officials saw a video of the shooting following a Saturday traffic stop, North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey said Tuesday.

Heightened scrutiny has been placed on shootings by police officers, particularly those that involve white officers and unarmed black suspects. A grand jury declined to indict Ferguson, Missouri, officer Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown last August, leading to widespread protests.

Authorities say the South Carolina victim, 50- year- old Walter Lamer Scott of Charleston, was shot after the officer already hit him with a stun gun. A video of the shooting shows the officer firing several times at the man’s back while he’s running away.

Summey said Slager made a “bad decision.”

“When you’re wrong, you’re wrong,” Summey said. “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.”

Slager’s attorney released a statement Monday saying the officer felt threatened and the motorist was trying to grab the officer’s stun gun. The attorney said Tuesday he no longer represents the officer.

In a separate case in South Carolina, a white police officer who shot a 68- year- old black man to death last year in his driveway was charged Tuesday with a felony: discharging a gun into an occupied vehicle.

A prosecutor previously tried to indict North Augusta officer Justin Craven on a manslaughter charge in the February 2014 death of Ernest Satterwhite. But a grand jury instead chose misconduct in office, which is a far lesser charge.

Craven chased Satterwhite for 15 kilometres beyond city limits to the man’s driveway in Edgefield County. After Satterwhite parked, the officer repeatedly fired through the driver- side door, prosecutors said.

The 25- year- old officer faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of the gun charge.