The City of North Charleston in South Carolina has reached a $6.5 million settlement with the family of Walter Scott, an unarmed black man shot dead by a white police officer in April 2015.
North Charleston City Council approved the deal in a unanimous vote.
Walter Scott, 50, was shot in April by Officer Michael Slager while running from a routine traffic stop.
It was one of several cases across the US in which unarmed black men died during encounters with police officers.
Officer Michael Slager was charged with murder and dismissed from the police force.
A police dashboard camera caught the moment Walter Scott ran from his car, while footage from a bystander’s mobile phone showed the officer firing eight shots at him as he fled.
“This is a very difficult period for the Scott family. I know they are glad to have this part behind them so their healing process can continue,” said North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey in a statement quoted by the Washington Post.
“As a result of this tragedy, important issues have been discussed, not only in North Charleston, but around the country. Citizens have become engaged in this process and government officials are listening.”
In July, New York City agreed to pay $5.9 million to the family of Eric Garner, who died after allegedly being put in a chokehold by a police officer.
In September, the City of Baltimore agreed to pay $6.4 million to the family of Freddie Gray, who died of a critical spine injury while in the back of a prisoner transport van in April.
Michael Slager has been detained in solitary confinement pending his trial. If convicted, the former officer faces from 30 years to life in prison without parole.
Mourners has gathered in Summerville, South Carolina for the funeral of black driver Walter Scott.
Walter Scott was fatally shot by North Charleston police officer Michael Slager after fleeing a traffic stop.
A hearse being escorted by two police on motorcycles drove up as the growing crowd looked on April 11. Mourners waited outside through humidity and a period of light rain while flowers were unloaded and brought inside the sanctuary.
Photo AP
Police initially said Walter Scott was shot on April 4 during a tussle over Michael Slager’s department-issued Taser.
However, a witness video surfaced later, showing Walter Scott being shot eight times as he ran away. Officer Michael Slager was fired and charged with murder.
The incident sparked outrage as another instance of a white law enforcement officer fatally shooting an unarmed black man under questionable circumstances.
A new video showing the moments before Officer Michael Slager killed unarmed Walter Scott by shooting him in the back has been released by South Carolina police.
The new footage shows Walter Scott’s car being pulled over and Officer Michael Slager asking for his paperwork.
After Michael Slager returns to his police vehicle, Walter Scott opens his door and runs, leaving a passenger in the car.
Michael Slager was arrested on murder charges after another video showed him shooting at Walter Scott as he fled.
The newly released video from the officer’s dashboard camera shows Michael Slager pulling over Walter Scott’s Mercedes sedan due to a broken tail light, and asking for his driving license and registration.
Walter Scott explains that he is in the progress of purchasing the vehicle and does not have the correct paperwork with him.
Although the video does not capture Michael Slager firing eight shots, gunshots and shouting are heard off-screen.
“Get on the ground now!” Michael Slager is heard shouting.
Later in the video, another police officer questions the passenger in the car and releases him. Lawyers for Walter Scott’s family told CNN that they are looking for the passenger.
After the first video of the incident emerged on April 7, protesters held rallies in North Charleston, chanting “no justice, no peace”.
They are the latest protests about police use of lethal force, which began after the killing of Michael Brown, a teenager in Ferguson, by a police officer who was not charged for his death.
Feidin Santana, who filmed the first video on his mobile phone, said he turned over the footage after reading the police report’s description of the killing.
“It wasn’t like that, the way they were saying,” Feidin Santana said.
Michael Slager, who is being held in jail without bond, was fired on April 8 from the North Charleston Police Department.
It has also emerged that Michael Slager had a prior complaint made against him about using force.
Officer Michael Slager, who is charged with murder after shooting Walter Scott in North Charleston, South Carolina, had a prior complaint made against him about using force.
The police are re-investigating Michael Slager’s use of a stun gun on Mario Givens in 2013.
Michael Thomas Slager was charged with the murder of Walter Scott, 50, after a video of Saturday’s fatal shooting emerged.
The witness who shot the video says he saw the two men having a scuffle on the ground before Walter Scott ran away.
Michael Slager was fired by the North Charleston police department following the murder charge.
He has been held without bail and faces up to life in prison if convicted of murder.
The video, shot by bystander Feidin Santana, shows Michael Slager firing multiple times as Walter Scott runs away.
Michael Slager claimed Walter Scott, a black father of four and former Coast Guard, had taken his stun gun and he had shot in fear of his life.
However, Feidin Santana told NBC News he didn’t see Walter Scott take the stun gun and he turned over the footage after reading the police report’s description of the killing.
“It wasn’t like that, the way they were saying.”
Feidin Santana added that before he starting recording, Walter Scott and the officer were on the ground and Scott was trying to get away.
A stun gun was also at issue in the 2013 complaint Mario Givens filed against the police officer.
Mario Givens said Michael Slager had pushed into his home after coming to his door.
“Come outside or I’ll tase you,” he quoted Michael Slager as saying, adding he then raised his arms over his head but was then stunned in the stomach.
Michael Slager was investigating a complaint against Mario Givens’ brother and apparently mistook Givens for his sibling.
Charges were dropped and Michael Slager was exonerated by a police investigation into the incident.
North Charleston police spokesman Spencer Pryor said the department plans to review the case to see whether its decision was correct.
Protests have been held in North Charleston, South Carolina, following the fatal shooting of an unarmed black man by a white police officer.
Officer Michael Slager was charged with murder and sacked after video emerged of him shooting Walter Scott multiple times in the back following a scuffle.
Michael Slager was arrested when authorities reviewed mobile phone video of the shooting, which took place on April 4.
The incident has been widely condemned, and the US Department of Justice and the FBI are investigating.
Cries of “Black lives matter!” rang out as about 50 protesters joined local politicians outside City Hall in North Charleston on April 8.
Appearing on ABC’s Good Morning America, Walter Scott’s mother described the video as “the most horrible thing I’ve ever seen”.
“I almost couldn’t look at it to see my son running defenselessly, being shot. It tore my heart to pieces,” Judy Scott said.
Other members of the family said they were grateful the video came to light and the authorities had acted quickly in response.
Michael Slager was fired from the force on Wednesday, as North Charleston Police Chief Eddie Driggers said he was “sickened” by the video.
The incident on April 4 began after Walter Scott’s car was stopped for having a broken rear light, local media reported.
A video of the incident published by the New York Times shows a brief scuffle before Walter Scott begins running away.
The video then shows the officer firing several shots at Walter Scott, who falls to the ground.
Michael Slager said at the weekend, through his lawyer, that he feared for his safety as Walter Scott had tried to grab his stun gun.
The same lawyer, David Aylor, told the Daily Beast he dropped Michael Slager as a client after the video become public.
Michael Slager appeared without a lawyer at his first court hearing on April 7. He could face up to life in prison if convicted of murder.
Walter Scott had four children, was engaged and had been honorably discharged from the US Coast Guard.
According to the Post and Courier newspaper of Charleston, Walter Scott had been arrested about 10 times, mostly for failing to pay child support or not showing up for court hearings.
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