(Reuters) — The man who shot the cell phone video of a police officer apparently shooting a fleeing suspect several times in the back shared his story on Wednesday (April 8).
Feidin (pronounced fay-din) Santana said he was making a call when he heard the sound of a Taser being used. He said he turned on the camera and walking over saw that the suspect, Walter Scott, was struggling with the officer.
He said Scott had been Tased and was trying to get away. Santana said he never saw Scott holding the Taser, and the officer had control of Scott the entire time.
The witness said that after he recorded the suspect being shot in the back, he realized he was holding something important in his hands.
Santana said he wanted to turn over the video to Scott’s family for them to know the truth about what happened.
“I thought about his position, their situation. I say, if I would have a family member and that would happen I would like to know the truth the truth you know about all this. And that was the reason I gave, I returned the information, the video, to them.”
He also said he felt afraid when he realized the police saw him standing nearby recording video with his phone.
The white South Carolina police officer that fired at Scott has been fired after being charged with murder.
The shooting occurred on Saturday in North Charleston, a town of about 100,000 people, nearly half of whom are black, but it gained national media attention on Tuesday when the video became public.
On Wednesday evening in North Charleston more than 100 people gathered on the steps of City hall to protest the police shooting. They called for an end to police brutality and racial profiling.
The shooting was the latest in a series of deaths during police encounters in the United States that have led protesters to decry racism and police brutality.
