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Crime

On April 4th, 2015, at around 9:30 am, 33-year-old police officer Michael Slager pulled over 50-year-old Walter Scott in North Charleston, South Carolina, for a broken brake light. Scott had a friend and coworker in the car with him at the time.

Slager approached Scott’s car before returning to his patrol car.

Scott ran from the scene on foot. Slager got out of his vehicle and gave chase. When he got close enough to Scott, he tased him, but it did not have the desired impact, and Scott fought back.

The two struggled momentarily before Scott broke free and started to run again.

Slager didn’t feel like running anymore, so he pulled out his .45 caliber Glock 21 pistol and fired eight shots, five of which hit the fleeing man in his back.

After the shooting, he contacted dispatch, stating, “Shots fired and the subject is down. He grabbed my Taser.”

Slager then ordered the dying man to put his arms behind his back, and then he handcuffed him.

Scott was soon pronounced dead. Slager lied and said the shooting was justified.

Slager didn’t know that a local man had recorded the incident. The man planned to delete the video as he feared police retaliation.

But after seeing news reports about the shooting being justified or an act of self-defense, the man came forward.

The video showed that Scott was 15 to 20 feet away from Slager when he was shot. It also appeared that Slager dropped something next to Scott’s body after he shot him.

Slager was arrested on April 7th, 2015, and charged with murder. He pleaded not guilty.

On May 11th, 2016, Slager was hit with federal charges of unlawfully using a weapon during a crime and civil rights violations. He pleaded not guilty to these charges as well.

Legal Proceedings

His murder trial started on October 31st, 2016, and he was facing life in prison if convicted.

It seemed like an open and shut case, but one juror held out, and on December 5th, the judge declared a mistrial. A retrial was scheduled to start in August 2017.

On May 2nd, 2017, weeks before his federal trial was going to start, Slager agreed to plead guilty to deprivation of rights under color of law.

Along with this agreement, the state murder charge was dropped. Judge David Norton sentenced him to 20 years in federal prison on December 7th, 2017.

His anticipated release date is August 16th, 2032.

Scott’s family was awarded 6.5 million dollars in a civil settlement with the city of North Charleston.