View video The bystander who captured the shocking footage of a white South Carolina cop fatally shooting a fleeing black man in the back said he initially thought of deleting the video because he feared for his life, according to a report.
Feidin Santana was walking to work when he witnessed officer Michael Slager struggling on the ground with 50-year-old Walter Scott, he told NBC News.
The 23-year-old said he knew the “magnitude” of what he was witnessing — and then recorded the incriminating video.
“I felt that my life, with this information, might be in danger. I thought about erasing the video and just getting out of the community, you know, Charleston, and living someplace else,” he told MSNBC. “I knew the cop didn’t do the right thing.”
Santana told “NBC Nightly News” that Scott and Slager struggled, but that the cop — who used his Taser to try to subdue Scott — did not seem to be in danger before he gunned Scott down.
“Before I started recording, they were down on the floor. I remember the police [officer] had control of the situation,” Santana said. “He had control of Scott. And Scott was trying just to get away from the Taser. But like I said, he never used the Taser against the cop.
“As you can see in the video, the police officer just shot him in the back,” he said. “I knew right away, I had something on my hands.”
Santana said he turned the damning three-minute video over to Scott’s family after hearing about accounts of the fatal encounter that contradicted what he had seen.
“It wasn’t like that, the way they were saying,” he told MSNBC. “I said, ‘No … this is not what happened.’”
Scott’s devastated relatives were “very emotional when that happened — including me also.”
“I thought about his position, their situation … If I were to have a family member that would happen [to], I would like to know the truth,” he told the network.
Slager claimed Scott grabbed his Taser and that he fired in self-defense. But the video shows the cop firing multiple rounds into Scott’s back as the victim is fleeing. Slager is seen approaching Scott from about 20 feet away and handcuffing him — then jogging back to the spot where he opened fire, picking up the Taser and apparently dropping it next to Scott’s body.
He fired eight bullets, five of which struck Scott — four in the back and one in the ear, The Post and Courier of Charleston reported.
Scott’s parents told NBC’s “Today” show that they thought their son was running away after the traffic stop because he feared being jailed for not paying child support.
North Charleston Police Chief Eddie Driggers said he was “sickened” by the video and Mayor Keith Summey announced Wednesday that the disgraced cop — who is charged with murder — was fired from the force.
Summey also said body cameras have been ordered for every cop on the street.
Attorneys for the Scott family hailed Santana as a “hero,” but he downplayed his role.
“It’s not something that no one can feel happy about. (Slager) has his family, Mr. Scott also has his family,” Santana told NBC News. “But I think, you know, he [the officer] made a bad decision, and you pay for your decisions in this life.”
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