Officer feared for his life, shoots Walter Scott

[planomateo]

Are you f'ing kidding me, this video is pretty disturbing. This cop shot him in the back while Walter Scott was running away.

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Ole Miss DE Fadol Brown is the step son of Walter Scott.

 

[PhillyGirl]

Thank god someone filmed it .. Another unnecessary, avoidable death.

Yes, Scott should not have run away, but even if you run away you don't deserve to get 8 bullets in you .. I mean come on!

He was a 50-year-old dude running (hell, LUMBERING) away (not towards) a 33-year-old trained cop. Cop could've tackled him or shot him in a non-lethal area in seconds.

I've got 3 officers in my family and they've all posted on FB calling this sh*t cowardly and disgraceful to the badge ..

 

[rocknthefreeworld]

This is why we should have cameras on cops at all times. I bet the cop would have thought a little harder about shooting a fleeing suspect if he knew for sure he was being filmed.

 

[planomateo]

I'm surprised he didn't shoot the guy holding the camera, appears to me he looked right at him just before he was walking up to Walter Scott.

 

[BamaFan334]

I agree, a little excessive, but the deadbeat dad also ran. You don't think these cops see enough each and every day that would make them a little trigger happy when someone runs. Apparently this guy ran, so what else was he willing to do? I only say this to help understand being a cop is not easy, just like how every sports fan jumps on a refs ass when he misses a call. It's not easy. Now, that being said, that many shots is excessive. I don't think the guy was going to outrun him, nor do I feel he should have unloaded his clip. Just a horrible situation all around, but I'm not going to be crying over a guy that doesn't take care of his kids and runs from the police, or a cop that felt is was necessary to unload a clip on a guy he clearly could have caught up to and subdued with some force.

 

[planomateo]

One shot in the back is excessive in my opinion based on what I've seen.

Running from the police isn't a shootable offense.

 

[PhillyGirl]

One shot in the back is excessive in my opinion based on what I've seen.

Running from the police isn't a shootable offense.

Agreed. This cop had no reason to fear for his life or for the lives of others. An unarmed, 50-year-old man was lumbering away from him over a minor traffic violation. Officer could've caught and tackled him in seconds. Or shot him once, in the leg or foot. Guy

No excuse for what he did. No one deserves to die over something so stupid. What a waste. Like I said earlier .. Yes, Scott should not have run away, but even if you run away you don't deserve to get 8 bullets in you .. I mean come on!

 

[BamaFan334]

Look at it this way, if the guy was willing to run from the cops, what else was he willing to do? That's a question that is unknown until after tragedy takes place. It's easy to say shoot him in the leg, but I'd like to see any one of you do that with a pistol and a moving target. I'm not saying it was the right call by any means, and eight is definitely excessive, and no life should be taken for this, but it did so it makes sense to look at it from all angles. In the end, don't be a dumbass and break the law. He had a warrant for his arrest for being a deadbeat dad and he didn't want to have to answer to those charges. No one runs over a broken tail light. Let's get that understood, it's always something else. Answer for your crimes and he'd still be alive. I doubt he gets shot if he answers the cop and answers for his crimes. It's a tough situation, but it's also one that has circumstances that are definitely not cut and dry.

 

[psychojoe]

I wonder what the object was that the officer first dropped near the victim's body, then picked up later in the video.

Absolutely no excuse.

 

[BamaFan334]

I wonder what the object was that the officer first dropped near the victim's body, then picked up later in the video.

Absolutely no excuse.

I was curious about that myself and it has not gone any further than just that. Nothing has been said that I have heard. I've been wondering the same.

 

[It Takes Eleven]

I heard him say on the radio that "he had my taser" or "tried to get my taser". Could've dropped it there. I'm curious if the video showed them grappling or fighting before he broke and ran. Still no reason to shoot.

 

[BamaFan334]

No, the guy that recorded it did not record that part.

 

[alabama mike]

I can't understand shooting the guy in the back 8 times!

 

[rocknthefreeworld]

I understand being a cop is a difficult job. But they hold people's lives in their hands and should not be so easy to use that power.

 

[Brandon Van de Graaff]

The officer never should have shot him, and he is rightfully being charged (though I'm sure the murder charge will be downgraded at some point), but I have a hard time mustering up much sympathy for anyone who runs from a police officer. Then again, I'm an asshole.

 

[It Takes Eleven]

The officer never should have shot him, and he is rightfully being charged (though I'm sure the murder charge will be downgraded at some point), but I have a hard time mustering up much sympathy for anyone who runs from a police officer. Then again, I'm an asshole.

I believe the charge will be downgraded as well. The part missing from video of this tragedy is what transpired between the man running out of patrol car camera view when he fled the scene of the traffic stop and when the passerby started filming just before the shooting. He said he started filming because an officer was fighting with a man. Whether the man grappled and again fled, or whether he was in an active fight with the officer, could certainly have an impact on the officer's state of mind. Still wrong to empty his gun, but that's the missing component for me. Part of the former officer's difficulty will be that, if his police report was contradicted by the video, then his candor will be called into question over what he alleges transpired off-camera.

RTR,

Tim