Former South Carolina police officer Michael T. Slager has been indicted on a murder charge by a grand jury for the fatal shooting of Walter L. Scott last April.
Slager was jailed on April 7, just days after the shoot took place on April 4, when video of Scott's death was made public. His lawyers have made no requests for bail so far, according to a report by the New York Times.
Scott's death drew national attention when video footage submitted by an anonymous witness appeared to contradict aspects of Slager's account of the shooting. The fatal run-in began when Slager stopped Scott for a broken taillight, but Scott fled on foot; the father of four was reportedly afraid that the routine traffic stop would lead to his arrest because of his outstanding child-support obligations.
In the video, Scott and Slager stood close to each other, and then Scott turned and ran away from Slager. Slager then shot Scott eight times in the back. Scott was unarmed.
In the video, there was no sign of struggle over Slager's taser, although Scott and his lawyers purported that. It also showed that Slager did not attempt to check Scott's pulse until about three minutes after the shots were fired.
For more analysis of the video, check out Complex News' coverage of the events from April 8.
[via the New York Times]
