Locals React To SC Officer Charged With Murder
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HOLLYWOOD (CBSMiami) -- Locals are reacting after a South Carolina officer was charged with murder after shocking video apparently shows him shooting a man while he was running away.
Michael Slager opened fire on unarmed Walter Scott as he ran away. After 8 shots, Scott went down. Five shots hit him. Slager is now charged with murder.
A day after he was charged, South Floridians reacted to the news, showing different sides of the arguments for and against the charge.
"I think his arrest was a bit pre-mature," said Walter Philbrick.
Click here to watch Ted Scouten's report.
Philbrick owns the 911 store in Hollywood. He's spent a lifetime in law enforcement and taught police officers when it's okay to shoot and when it's not.
"It depends on what the officer felt at that moment. Was his life in danger? Would it have been in danger if he chased him again and they fought physically again and got his gun out from his holster," said Philbrick.
In this case, investigators said Officer Slager initially said Scott tried to get his taser after a traffic stop, saying that he was in fear for his life and shot him, even saying on the police radio after the shooting that Scott took his stun gun.
Later, video showed officer Slager dropping something near Scott's body. It's not clear what it is and the police chief now said Scott was zapped with the taser, and that part of it was still attached to him.
Philbrick thinks there should be more investigation before a murder charge.
"There should be an internal investigation, interview him, interview witnesses look at the evidence, then determine if he violated South Carolina state law," said Philbrick.
A spokesman for the Miami chapter of the NAACP said he does not know if race had anything to do with the shooting, but is satisfied with the officer being charged with murder.
"I think he went above and beyond his scope of duty and I think that the charge based on the video is fitting and we'll see what happens, how justice plays out in this incident," said Ruban Roberts with NAACP.