Walter L. Scott, 50, was a father of four who served in the Coast Guard and had trouble making child support payments, but he was not a violent man, according to his brother Anthony Scott, who spoke with CNN's Don Lemon Tuesday.
"He was outgoing—loved everybody, [was] very known in the community and got along with everybody," Anthony Scott told Lemon. "All the family loves him, and his kids loved him."
The world now knows Walter L. Scott's name after graphic footage of what appears to show Scott running away from a North Charleston, S.C., police officer as the officer fatally shoots him. Officer Michael Slager reportedly stopped Scott Saturday morning for a traffic violation.
According to a police report viewed by CNN, Scott allegedly refused to comply with Slager's orders and allegedly tried to take the officer's stun gun. In the video of the incident, it appears that the stun gun may have already been used by the officer and dropped as the two men struggled. Scott then runs away from the officer, who opens fire. The officer returns to where the first interaction took place and picks something up from the ground, walks over to Scott's prone body and drops something next to him. It is still unclear why Scott is running away from the officer in the footage, but family attorney Chris Stewart told Lemon that it was no reason for the officer to fire his gun.
"Running from an officer doesn't result in the death penalty," Stewart said.
Scott was reported dead at the scene, and Slager has been charged with murder in the shooting. Anthony Scott told CNN that the footage of his brother's death has traumatized the family.
"When I saw that video for the first time, my family was deeply hurt that someone would gun down a human being in that way," Anthony Scott told CNN. "We just couldn't believe it."
Read more at CNN.
Also on The Root: “Here is What You Need to Know About SC Officer Michael Slager”