Walter Scott, the 50-year-old South Carolina man who was shot and killed by now-former North Charleston, S.C., Police Officer Michael Slager, was indeed behind on his child support, but there was no actual warrant issued for his arrest, the Associated Press reports.
According to the report, counting court fees, Scott owed more than $7,800 (almost $7,500 in child support alone—though CNN reports that Scott owed more than $18,000 in back child support payments), with court documents showing that he last paid in the summer of 2012. AP discovered that there was no bench warrant for his arrest.
Family members have said that Scott may have been attempting to run from Slager during Saturday’s traffic stop because he was afraid of going back to jail over child support. The father of four had been in jail three times before over the issue, AP notes. In 2008 he was sentenced to six months in jail for falling behind by $6,800 after a traffic stop that led to charges on an open-container violation and driving while under suspension.
He was arrested again in 2011, spending a night in jail for owing $7,500. Most recently, in 2012, he spent another night in jail for being $3,500 behind.
Read more at WLTX 19.