Police: Dash cams don't show S.C. police shooting

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[h=4]Police: Dash cams don't show S.C. police shooting[/h]Dash cam video from the scene could be released soon, a law enforcement officials said.

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Feidin Santana, the man who shot the video of a North Charleston police officer gunning down an unarmed man, is speaking out in his first media interview. He reveals why he made the decision to come forward, and why he is now fearful. VPC


Protesters light candles outside the North Charleston, S.C., City Hall on April 8, 2015.(Photo: Jim Watson, AFP/Getty Images)


The tragic shooting of an unarmed black man by a North Charleston, S.C., police officer was not captured on the dashboard camera of the officer charged with murder in the case, a law enforcement official said Thursday.
South Carolina Law Enforcement Division spokesman Thom Berry told USA TODAY that none of the cameras mounted on any of the police vehicles that responded to the scene captured the dramatic moments recorded by a passerby with his cellphone.
Berry said he did not know how much if any of the confrontation that led to the shooting was recorded on Officer Michael Slager's dash cam. Berry said his department will release the video as soon as prosecutors grant approval.
"I have been told that none of the cameras have the incident itself," Berry said, adding that he has not seen the video. "Most of it will be driving to the scene, parking the vehicles."
Berry said officials are reviewing "potentially hours of video," because video from all the cars that responded is being reviewed.
The man who recorded the shooting with his cellphone is speaking out, saying he shared the video with the victim's family after seeing that a police report conflicted with what he saw.
Feidin Santana told NBC's Lester Holt he was walking to work when he saw Slager's confrontation with Walter Scott, 50. Slager, in a radio contact with a police dispatcher, said Scott grabbed his stun gun after a traffic stop. Santana's Samsung video shows Scott running away as Slager shoots him eight times. Scott died at the scene.
Slager, 33, was charged with murder Tuesday. He previously had been allowed to stay on the force despite a complaint in 2013 that he used excessive force against an unarmed man, the Associated Press reported.
Mario Givens told the AP on Wednesday that he was awakened before dawn one morning in 2013 by a loud banging on the front door of his family's home in North Charleston and Slager was on the porch, responding to a reported burglary in the neighborhood.
Givens, 33, told the news agency that he cracked open the door and Slager pushed in, shooting him in the belly with a stun gun. He said he filed a formal complaint against Slager backed by at least two other witnesses, but police took no action.
Santana told NBC that he was walking to work when he noticed a scuffle taking place between the officer and Scott.
"I was on a phone call and I decide to walk over there and see what was going on," Santana said. "They were down on the floor before I started recording."
He continued, "I remember police had control of the situation, he (Slager) had control of Scott and Scott was trying to get away from the Taser."
Santana said he then saw Scott get shot and go down.
"As you can see in the video, the police officer just shot him in the back and I knew right away I had something in my hands," Santana said. The police report "wasn't like I saw it," he said. "I got mad."
Santana then approached the brother of the victim. "If I had a family member, I would want to know the truth," Santana said.
North Charleston Police Chief Eddie Driggers said during a press conference Wednesday that he watched the video and he was "sickened by what I saw."
Others in the same situation as Santana, who have captured video of alleged police brutality, claim they suffered retribution afterward.
Ramsey Orta, who shot video last August of Staten Island, N.Y., father Eric Garner going down in what appears to be an illegal police chokehold, was arrested on weapons charges shortly after the fatal incident. Police said Orta had a stolen handgun in his possession, but Orta said the arrest was payback for making the Garner incident public.
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