Walter Scott ‘just trying to get away from taser’: witness

Interviewed on NBC’s Nightly News show, Mr Santana said he had seen a struggle between Mr Scott and police officer Michael Slager before he started filming, but that officer Slager was “in control of the situation.” He described hearing “the sound of the taser”.

He insisted that Mr Scott had not used the taser against the policeman, but when Mr Scott broke free and began to ran away, Mr Santana said “I believe he was just trying to get away from the taser.”

He commented “there were other ways to get him arrested – that wasn’t the proper way to do it.”

Mr Santana said that when he handed his footage over to Mr Scott’s family, they were “very emotional”, adding “if I had a family member and that would happen, I would like to know the truth.”

Bad decision

Described as a hero by Mr Scott’s family, Mr Santana said “It’s not something that no one can feel happy about. He [Slager] has his family, Mr Scott also has his family. But I think, he [Slager] made a bad decision, and you pay for your decisions in this life.”

Mr Santana later told MSNBC that he had considered erasing the video. The 23-year-old, who was on his way to work when the incident happened, said he had felt that his life might be in danger if he stayed in that community.

Crucial evidence

Officer Slager had initially pulled Mr Scott over in his car for having a broken brake light. After the incident, in which he fired eight shots at Mr Scott, fatally wounding him, Slager told fellow officers that Scott had grabbed his taser gun.

After Mr Santana’s footage was made public, Slager was charged with murder and sacked from the police force. The mayor of North Charleston later said that officers in the local force would soon be equipped with body cameras.