Former Mount Laurel, N.J., Man Charged in S.C. Walter Scott Shooting

It’s official: Michael Slager — the South Carolina police officer caught on tape shooting a black man, Walter Scott, as he ran away — has been indicted by a grand jury on a murder charge.

Slager grew up in Mount Laurel, N.J. He had been a member of the North Charleston police department for five years.

“Solicitor Scarlett Wilson made the announcement during a 11 a.m. news conference at the Charleston County Solicitor’s Office. Wilson said the grand jury returned the murder indictment against Slager Monday morning,” WCSC reports. “Murder was the only charge presented to the grand jury to consider for an indictment, Wilson said. Murder, which is defined as an unlawful killing made with malice aforethought, carries a sentence of 30 years to life in prison without parole.”

“The former officer, Michael T. Slager, had been jailed on a murder charge since April 7, when the video became public,” the New York Times reports. “Mr. Slager’s lawyers have so far made no request for bail, and his indictment in Charleston County had been widely expected. The North Charleston Police Department fired him after the shooting, which city officials criticized in stark and unsparing terms.”

The fatal encounter happened April 4th, and became part of an increasingly tense national conversation about race and policing.

CNN recalls: “A widely circulated video taken by a bystander with a phone shows Scott attempting to run. His back is to Slager, who, from a few yards away, raises his gun and fires. Slager shot eight times, and Scott was hit five times. Scott died at the scene. Slager was fired from the department, arrested and charged with murder.”

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