“NBC Nightly News” anchor Lester Holt traveled to South Carolina to conduct the first interview with the man who recorded the fatal police shooting of apparently unarmed black man, Walter Scott.
In the exclusive interview, which aired Wednesday evening, Holt spoke with Feidin Santana near the grassy area where he captured the graphic cellphone footage. The video showed Michael Slager, 33, shooting 50-year-old Scott eight times, as he ran away from the white police officer in North Charleston on Saturday.
Officer Slager said he feared for his life because Scott had taken his stun gun in a scuffle after a traffic stop for a broken tail light, as TheWrap previously reported.
Slager was swiftly charged with murder after the video surfaced Tuesday and has since been fired from the North Charleston Police Department.
When asked how he came to witness the alleged murder, Santana told Holt, “I was walking to my job and saw Mr. Scott — rest in peace — and I saw police chasing after him. I was on a phone call and decided to go over there to see what was going on.
“They were down on the floor, before I started recording. The police had control of the situation, he had control of Scott,” he said.
“Scott was trying to get away from the Taser — you can hear the sound. I believe he was just trying to get away,” Santana said. “As you can see in the video, the police officer just shot him. I knew right away I had something important in my hands,” he said of the footage that was recorded on his Samsung phone.
Santana ultimately turned the video over to attorneys for Scott’s family. “They were very emotional when that happened,” he said. As for Officer Slager being charged with murder, “that is nothing to feel happy about, he has his family, but you make your decisions and have to pay for them. Mr. Scott didn’t deserve this.”
In a press conference earlier on Wednesday, that was repeatedly interrupted by angry protestors, police could not explain why Slager stopped next to Scott’s handcuffed body and appeared to drop something, which many have speculated was a Taser to make it look like he had a weapon.
It is also not clear why the video doesn’t show officers performing CPR, which the initial police report said they had. “There are questions that I have in my mind that I can’t answer right now,” Chief Eddie Driggers of the North Charleston Police Department said.
Scott’s mother, Judy, told NBC News that her son was gunned down “as if he was an animal.” His parents think that he ran from the officer because he owned money for back child support, but that he did not reach for the officer’s Taser.
North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey announced Wednesday that he has ordered body cameras for the police force and that every officer on the street will wear one after a policy is established and the force is trained.
Summey also revealed that Slager’s wife is eight months pregnant and the city will continue paying for her medical insurance until the baby is born. Slager is currently being held without bond at Charleston County Jail.
A murder conviction in the state could lead to the death penalty or up to 30 years to life in prison, according to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.
Ferguson Fallout: The Scene Following Decision Not to Indict Officer Darren Wilson (Photos)
Police officers march by a burning squad car during a demonstration in Ferguson, Missouri on Nov. 24, 2014.
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Looters run out of a store in Ferguson, Missouri on Nov. 24, 2014.
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Looters break into a business during unrest in Ferguson, Missouri on Nov. 24, 2014.
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A protester is surrounded by tear gas in Ferguson, Missouri on Nov. 24, 2014.
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Firefighters try to extinguish a burning restaurant in Ferguson, Missouri on Nov. 24, 2014.
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A restaurant is set on fire by protesters in Ferguson, Missouri on Nov. 24, 2014.
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Protesters kneel with their hands up in Ferguson, Missouri on Nov. 24, 2014.
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A row of cars is set on fire at a used car lot during a demonstration in Ferguson, Missouri on Nov. 24, 2014.
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St. Louis Co. Prosecutor Robert McCulloch announces the grand jury's decision not to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in Clayton, Missouri on Nov. 24, 2014.
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Demonstrators in Ferguson, Missouri listen to a car radio as the grand jury's decision is delivered on Nov. 24, 2014.
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Heavily armed police officers confront protesters in Ferguson, Missouri on Nov. 24, 2014.
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St. Louis County police officers in riot gear guard the Ferguson police department on Nov. 24, 2014.
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A suspected looter is detained outside a Dollar Store in Ferguson, Missouri on Nov. 24, 2014.
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Police deploy tear gas during a demonstration in Ferguson, Missouri on Nov. 24, 2014.
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CNN Reporter Sara Sidner was hit in the head with a rock while covering the Ferguson unrest on Nov. 24, 2014.
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Protesters march in New York City following the grand jury decision in Missouri, Nov. 24, 2014.
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Protesters march through the streets of New York City after learning Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson would not be charged, Nov. 24, 2014.
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A woman faces police officers on the Harbor Freeway (110) in Los Angeles during a protest against the Ferguson grand jury decision on Nov. 24, 2014.
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Protesters gather outside a shopping center in the Crenshaw District of Los Angeles on Nov. 24, 2014.
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Protesters in Beverly Hills block traffic at the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Rodeo Dr. in reaction to the Ferguson grand jury decision on Nov. 24, 2014.
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Protesters gather outside the White House after the Ferguson grand jury decision on Nov. 24, 2014.
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Hundreds of protesters, many of them Howard University students, gather outside the White House after the Ferguson grand jury decision on Nov. 24, 2014.
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President Barack Obama calls for calm during a news conference in Washington, DC after the grand jury's decision on Nov. 24, 2014.
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Brown family attorney Benjamin Crump speaks during a press conference about the Ferguson grand jury decision in Dellwood, Missouri on Nov. 25, 2014.
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A worker cleans up glass at a business that was damaged during a demonstration following the grand jury decision in Ferguson, Missouri on Nov. 25, 2014.
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Ferguson Mayor James W. Knowles III addresses the delayed deployment of the National Guard at a press conference in Ferguson, Missouri on Nov. 25, 2014.
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Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon speaks about the widespread rioting and looting following the Ferguson grand jury decision during a news conference on Nov. 25, 2014.
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Missouri national guardsmen line up in front of the Ferguson police station on Nov. 25, 2014, ready to be deployed a day after demonstrators caused extensive damage in the city after the grand jury decision.
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Police officers secure the Los Angeles Police Department Headquarters after protesters pushed over barricades during demonstrations on Nov. 25, 2014.
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A protester sits in the back of a Los Angles Police Department transport bus in the early morning hours of Nov. 26, 2014, after being arrested at a protest against the Ferguson grand jury decision.
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Police arrest a Ferguson protester during the early morning hours of Nov. 26, 2014.
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A protester has her eyes flushed after being pepper sprayed by police in Ferguson on Nov. 26, 2014.
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Protesters turned over a police car during a demonstration on Nov. 25, 2014 in Ferguson.
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Lesley McSpadden, mother of Michael Brown Jr., attends a press conference in New York City on Nov. 26, 2014 to pray and address the events of the last few days.
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Protesters set up barricades and block the 101 freeway in Los Angeles following the Ferguson grand jury decision, during a protest on Nov. 25, 2014.
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Violence erupts in Ferguson, and protests are held across the country after a grand jury decided Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson would not face criminal charges in the shooting death of Michael Brown
Police officers march by a burning squad car during a demonstration in Ferguson, Missouri on Nov. 24, 2014.