White American police officer fatally shot a defenceless black man eight times in the back.
Michael Thomas Slager, 33, has been charged with murder after graphic footage showed the final moments of Walter Scott’s life.
The 50-year-old dad of four was killed on Saturday morning after Slager pulled him over for having a broken brake light in North Charleston, South Carolina.
There was a scuffle in which authorities claim Slager fired a stun gun, then Mr Scott was seen dropping something on the ground and running away – before he was gunned down.
Slager was seen in footage firing seven times, pausing, then shooting an eighth round.
The disturbing video showed Dallas Cowboys fan Mr Scott slumped face-down in a patch of grass as Slager apparently put handcuffs on him.
Slager then apparently walked back to a spot near where he opened fire, picked something up and dropped it on the ground near Mr Scott.
It was suggested this could be the stun gun, which the officer said Mr Scott tried to grab.
Slager, a South Carolina Patrolman, was arrested within hours of the city’s mayor and the city’s police chief receiving the video.
The shooting comes as racial tensions between the police and America’s black community run high following the deaths of men in New York, Cleveland, Ferguson and Dallas.
North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey said: “I can tell you that as the result of that video and the bad decision made by our officer, he will be charged with murder.