NORTH CHARLESTON: A white South Carolina police officer has been dismissed from his job after being charged with murder for shooting an apparently unarmed black man in the back as he fled, the latest death that has brought protesters out to decry racism and police brutality in the United States.

With dozens of demonstrators in North Charleston protesting the fatal shooting of 50-year-old Walter Scott, which was captured on video by a witness, officials held a tense news conference on Wednesday expressing revulsion and appealing for calm.

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“I have been praying for peace, peace for the family and peace for this community,” North Charleston Police Chief Eddie Driggers said.

North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey told reporters that police officer Michael Slager, 33, had been fired.

Mr Slager was charged on Tuesday with murder in the death of Mr Scott, the latest among several police shootings of black men over the past year in cities including New York; Ferguson, Missouri; and Cleveland, Ohio. The incidents have stirred debate across the United States about police use of lethal force and race relations, also drawing President Barack Obama into the discussion.

Police said Saturday’s shooting occurred after Mr Slager stopped Mr Scott for a broken brake light.

Know more: Another black teenager killed by police near Ferguson

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the US Department of Justice are investigating Mr Scott’s shooting. Civil rights leaders called for calm, and many people praised the courage of the witness who filmed the killing and gave the video to Mr Scott’s family.

Holding signs that read “The whole world is watching” and “Back turned, don’t shoot,” protesters said Scott’s death should not be viewed as an isolated incident.

The shooting was the 11th involving a police officer in South Carolina this year and the second in North Charleston, said Thom Berry, spokesman for the state’s law enforcement division. No one was injured in the prior incident in the city in January, he said.

The video shows a brief scuffle between the pair before Mr Scott begins to run away. Mr Slager is then seen taking aim with a handgun before shooting eight times at Mr Scott’s back. Mr Scott then slumps facedown onto the grass.

According to a police report, Mr Slager told other officers Mr Scott had taken his stun gun from him.

At no point in the video, which does not show the initial contact between the men, does Mr Scott appear to be armed.

Published in Dawn, April 9th, 2015

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