NEW YORK
U.S. prosecutors indicted Monday a former police officer for the murder of an unarmed black man in the state of South Carolina, local media said.
Michael Slager, 33, who was initially charged in April, is accused of fatally shooting 50-year-old Walter Scott during a traffic stop.
The murder charge was the only one presented to a grand jury for consideration and carries a 30-year to life sentence without parole, according to the local WIS News website. A trial date has not yet been set.
A mobile phone video of the April 4 shooting shows Scott apparently fleeing from the officer. It then showed the officer drawing his pistol and firing eight shots -- five of which struck Scott in the back, who falls face first to the ground.
Slager was fired from the South Carolina police force April 8 after he was arrested and charged.
The shooting in North Charleston came at a time when a series of police-involved killings of unarmed blacks has stirred racial tensions, setting off nationwide protests over perceived injustices within the U.S. justice system.
