S.C. Cop Said His Adrenaline Was ‘Pumping’ After Walter Scott Shooting

Video obtained by the New York Times appears to show a white North Charleston, S.C. police officer, Michael Slager, shooting an unarmed black man, Walter Scott, in the back.
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

North Charleston police officer Michael Thomas Slager discussed his adrenaline pumping with another officer after Slager shot and killed unarmed black man Walter Scott, according to a police recording obtained by The Guardian.

According to The Guardian, in the recording Slager asks a fellow officer what the next steps will be following the shooting. The other officer tells Slager that he will likely get sent home with few questions at first, and that he will be fully interviewed within a couple of days.

“By the time you get home, it would probably be a good idea to kind of jot down your thoughts on what happened,” the officer told Slager. “You know, once the adrenaline quits pumping.”

“It’s pumping,” Slager responded, laughing.

“Oh yeah. Oh yeah,” the other officer said.

Thom Berry, a South Carolina Law Enforcement Division spokesman, told The Guardian that he believes the officer heard in the recording is Slager.

“It appears that way. I have not been able to independently confirm it,” Berry said.

Slager was arrested and charged with murder last week after he shot and killed unarmed black man Walter Scott in the back as he was running away. Slager alleged that he felt threatened by Scott and that Scott tried to grab his stun gun.

Latest Livewire
37
Show Comments

Notable Replies

  1. “It’s pumping,” Slager responded, laughing.

    Bet he’s not laughing now.

  2. Is there gonna be an “adrenaline” defense? [quote=“TeenLaQueefa, post:2, topic:19083”]
    Bet he’s not laughing now.
    [/quote]

    I agree.

  3. Avatar for tao tao says:

    Cool rush, huh?.. Earned your bones, bro, no sweat, get a few days off. Nah, nobody will know… Just another day.

  4. My problem is not just with the shooting, but with the cool, calm and collected way he acted after the shooting. It seems to me he was following a script. I want to know if he received coverup training?

  5. Avatar for ajm ajm says:

    The New York Times has an odd item. Slager told neighbors he was waiting on a government job in the West and then moved. The neighbors assumed he’d moved to the job but he’d actually just moved 10 miles away and told no one.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

31 more replies

Participants

Avatar for system1 Avatar for slbinva Avatar for jcs Avatar for peter_schwartz Avatar for littlegirlblue Avatar for marby Avatar for mondfledermaus Avatar for austinite Avatar for jackster Avatar for theod Avatar for rudesan Avatar for Barcolounger Avatar for teenlaqueefa Avatar for bluinmaine Avatar for chuck_voellinger Avatar for daveyjones64 Avatar for gr Avatar for tao Avatar for kitty Avatar for ronbyers Avatar for darrtown Avatar for history_of_bubbles Avatar for an_american Avatar for geofromnj

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: