Police officer charged with murder in South Carolina after shooting unarmed man in the back. What do you think of cases like this?

It is a shame that this idiot with a gun and a badge did this. This action by one individual will be spun up so much and further put a black eye on the reputation of the 99.999% of those in law enforcement who are morale and just in their actions.

I believe it is important to let the investigation into the entire event run its course before jumping to wild conclusions. Obviously what is seen on the video is bad for the Officer but doesn't account for what happened prior to the shooting - and yes - 8 rounds fired to is excessive.

If the Officer is in the wrong - yes try him for murder. If the facts prove otherwise then obviously a different path will be taken.

As a former LEO myself, from what I see of the situation, this was a bad shoot. Video notwithstanding, it would appear the officer's own statement would be grounds to prosecute him for murder (probably 2nd degree or manslaughter). It's very difficult to prove self-defense when the suspect is facing AWAY from you and all your rounds strike him/her in the back.

Hopefully the DA and IAB do their jobs correctly. If charges are appropriate, then he should be subject to the full weight of the judicial system.

IN the one shooting that caused the riots I feel in my heart that police officer had the right to shoot that boy had a record a mile long and had a weapon. In this case this was a set up, this man did not take that taser it shows that and it was planted next to the body. I do bet this colored man has been harassed in the past and possibly hurt before and ran in fear. But this gives no office rights to shot in the back. If there are no weapons involved the person is not in arms length either to cause bodily harm that officer needs to wait for back up. But yet wait the back up??? was there and not helping to administer first aide. IF it would not have been caught on video to prove what happened would the city still say and feel the same way because maybe this guy has gotten away with it before and figured he could again. I have seen some be harassed to no end and this must stop. Not only to citizens but our veterans as well. He needs to have his badge taken permanently the aiding policeman needs to be suspended for aiding in this murder and doing nothing. So aiding officer is just as guilty for helping it look as tho the taser was with the guy shot. So why is that office not being charged for a cover up?

The kind of thing (Murder) that i expect to see in a Movie or third world country. Only thing is , it happens all the time to one degree or another as anybody can confirm by watching a You-Tube video on almost any given day.
American Police are being trained by Instructors that were trained by Killers , could be a friendly , so called Ally providing the seminars / class room indoctrination (ISRAEL).
We stop this by condemning the Police Brass and destroying them any way possible with in the LAW. Other wise you get this crazy show (Murder) and the freak show that follows with the Police Brass suddenly jumping up and demanding the individual Officer be hung.
American Society is in danger and it will trigger a backlash.

I don't think this happens on regular basis, but I think the media want us to believe that. As a career Soldier and law enforcement professional, I can tell you all police officers (military and civilian) know the rules, and know they alone have to be able explain their own actions when they decide to employ deadly force.

Based on what I saw on the news (which, we all know is biased one way or the other), this Officer was clearly wrong shooting at a subject who was fleeing and appeared to pose no imminent threat to him or anyone else. Hence, he should have been charged.

But, this video is only part of the story. It looks bad.

Take Ferguson for example... What the media told us all, and what actually happened there were quite a bit different.

What I don't understand is how American lives are expendable. Why can police shoot unarmed civilians and then use the excuse that their life was in danger.. I'm no hero but I have been deployed a hell of a lot I have seen and been in my fair share of gun fights and never have I been in a position where the use of deadly force was authorized against unarmed civilians. Do bystanders get in the way and sometimes struck by gunfire.. Yes but to intentionally shoot a person in the back that was not actively assaulting you or trying to harm you is Murder and this isn't the first time... this is bigger than this current situation, this is a system problem.. maybe its time to take the gun away and issue billy clubs.. I bet we would see a change in the attitude in law enforcement and how they deal with people

I don't know how often this happens, but I do know that officers who act in this manner deserve to be treated the same as anybody else who is caught, charged, tried and convicted of the same actions.

This officer showed a textbook reason why we had the Fleeing Felon Act back in the 1960's. I believe it was repealed. If so, he probably felt a little justified. If so.. I can see shooting another taser if he had another one available (escalation of force kind of thing).

We need to focus our attention on the fact that he is a police officer and not a white police officer shooting and killing a black unarmed man as is evident to see.

No, we need to look at the police department's rules of engagement specifically in the area of discretion on when to use lethal force. Discretion is a slippery slope for police administrators.

Here is my take: in the military we have rules of engagement cards that change on each deployment to adjust to the changing political conditions. I kind of felt more pressure not to fire as i returned on the following deployments.

Police work hard and put their lives on the line for many innocent. In this case, based off the video evidence it appears they either get numb to the humanity of criminal behavior, or need assistance with coping with the stress of the job. There is no excuse and he should be charged with murder. This appears to go farther than excessive force. Clearly. I just cannot in absolute fact determine what went through his mind about the victim while he was unloading his clip. I suspect he will never tell either.