Last Tuesday, Officer Michael Slager of North Charleston, South Carolina, was charged with the murder of Walter Scott, a black man. Slager had pulled Scott over for a broken taillight. Scott was driving a Mercedes­-Benz and when he was pulled over, and he immediately jumped out of the car. Slager claimed to have felt threatened by Scott. He said that the man attempted to take his stun gun.

However, a video was sent in to the New York Times anonymously that showed a different story. After he got out of the car, Scott and Slager tussled for a few seconds. The video begins with Scott starting to run away. He runs to a nearby vacant lot and Slager pulls out his gun and shoots Scott in the back eight times. Slager allegedly thought that he was shooting with a taser, so he kept shooting until Scott fell to the ground. After handcuffing the dying man’s hands behind his back, Slager runs back to the car, picks an object up off the ground, and returns to Scott. He drops the unknown object in the grass next to Scott. Then more police officers came to the scene. Walter Scott was pronounced dead at the scene of the crime. He was 50; Slager is 33.

With recent police shootings in Cleveland, Ferguson, and other cities, the Walter Scott shooting raised further debate whether police are too quick to use force and deadly weapons. In the ‘80s, the Supreme Court ruled that police were allowed to shoot only to save their life or another person’s life. Lately, the line distinguishing threatening situations seems to have blurred.

President Obama sent Attorney General Eric Holder to cities throughout the country, in attempt to ease tensions between police forces and citizens. This will most likely be difficult in North Charleston. 47% of the population is black, but 80% of the Police Department is white. Similar to Ferguson, North Charleston has a history of disconnect between its police force and black residents especially.

According to Chris Stewart, Scott’s family’s lawyer, he had been arrested a number of times for failing to show up to court hearings and failing to pay child support. However, he didn’t have a violent history. He had four kids and a job. Scott’s brother, Anthony, believes that he ran from Officer Slager because he owed child support.