Deadly South Carolina police shooting: The key players
NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. -- A look at some of the main people involved in the fatal shooting of a black man by a white police officer in North Charleston:
The officer
Michael Thomas Slager, 33, was a police officer in North Charleston. He's charged with murder. Video shows him firing eight times at a black man who runs away from him after a traffic stop.
Slager is white. He's married, and his wife is eight months pregnant, officials said Wednesday. The city will cover health insurance until after the baby is born even though Slager has been fired, the mayor said. Officials said they didn't know whether Slager has other children.
Slager was denied bond at a brief hearing Tuesday. He wasn't accompanied by a lawyer. If convicted, he could face 30 years to life in prison.
Slager served in the United States Coast Guard and had been with North Charleston police for five years.
According to CBS affiliate WCSC, two prior complaints were filed against Slager for allegedly using excessive force, including one involving a stun gun. He was eventually was exonerated.
The victim
Walter L. Scott, a 50-year-old black man, was fatally shot Saturday. He was initially pulled over because his brake light was out.
Scott may have tried to run from the officer because he owed child support, which can send people to jail in South Carolina until they pay it back, his father and a family attorney said. His father said Scott didn't want to go back to jail.
Scott had four children, was engaged and had been honorably discharged from the U.S. Coast Guard. There were no violent offenses on his record, the family's attorney said. Family members have indicated they plan to sue the police department.
Scott had been in a relationship with the mother of a player on the University of Mississippi football team, according to a statement from coach Hugh Freeze. For junior Fadol Brown, Scott "served as a father figure" for years, the coach said.
A funeral will be held Saturday.
The police chief
Eddie Driggers began his career in law enforcement in 1975 as an officer in North Charleston, according to a biography on the agency's website. In 1986, he joined the Charleston County Police Department and eventually became assistant sheriff.
In 2012, Mayor Keith Summey hired him to lead the North Charleston Police Department.
"Chief Driggers' philosophy is that the office does not belong to him, but rather to the people he serves," the website says.
In 2012, Driggers was ordained a deacon in the Episcopal Church. He is married.
At a news conference Wednesday, protesters called for Driggers to answer questions instead of the mayor. But officials said that because the investigation of the shooting has been turned over to the State Law Enforcement Division, Driggers could not answer specific questions. He did say that the video "sickened" him.
The mayor
Keith Summey was elected in October 1994 and has won re-election five times. He's widely credited with helping the city recover from the economic devastation when the Charleston Naval Base closed in the mid-1990s. Now the city is home to Boeing's South Carolina operations.
Summey is a South Carolina native. He's married with two children and four grandchildren, according to a city biography.
Summey announced the charges against Slager on Tuesday. On Wednesday, Driggers and Summey spoke with Scott's parents at their home and called it "a good visit."
Going forward, Summey said, officials will work on open dialogue and a closer relationship with the community.
At the end of Wednesday's news conference, protesters called for Summey's resignation, chanting "The mayor's got to go."
The witness
Feidin Santana told NBC News that while walking to work Saturday morning, he saw Slager controlling Scott on the ground, and began recording when he heard the sound of a Taser. "Mr. Scott was trying just to get away from the Taser," said Santana, a barber originally from the Dominican Republic. "He was just looking for a way to get away from the police."
Slager initially claimed he fired in self-defense after the suspect he had pulled over for a broken brake light grabbed his Taser.
Santana's recording documented a different scenario. It begins at a moment when both men are standing, as Scott pulls away from the officer and an object appearing to be a stun gun falls to the ground, trailing wires. As the unarmed man runs away, Slager then pulls out his Glock pistol and fires eight times at the back of the 50-year-old man, until he crumples to the ground about 30 feet away.
Santana also said he didn't see the officer render any first aid to Scott after he was on the ground. Santana said he was so shaken by what he had witnessed that he initially considered erasing the video from his phone and leaving town.
"I felt that my life, with this information, might be in danger," Santana said.