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Cop who shot man in back had prior excessive force complaint

Chasyn Carter, right, of North Charleston, S.C., embraces Candice Ancrum, of Summerville, S.C., during a candlelight vigil outside city hall protesting the shooting death of Walter Lamer Scott, Wednesday, April 8, 2015, in North Charleston, S.C. Scott was killed by a North Charleston police office after a traffic stop on Saturday. The officer, Michael Thomas Slager, has been fired and charged with murder. (AP Photo/David Goldman) Chasyn Carter, right, of North Charleston, S.C., embraces Candice Ancrum, of Summerville, S.C., during a candlelight vigil outside city hall protesting the shooting death of Walter Lamer Scott, Wednesday, April 8, 2015, in North Charleston, S.C. Scott was killed by a North Charleston police office after a traffic stop on Saturday. The officer, Michael Thomas Slager, has been fired and charged with murder. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

By Associated Press April 9, 2015 1 min read

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) – The South Carolina police officer facing a murder charge after video surfaced of him shooting a fleeing suspect in the back was allowed to stay on the force despite an earlier complaint he used excessive force against an unarmed man.

Mario Givens recounted to The Associated Press on Wednesday how he was awakened before dawn one morning in 2013 by a loud banging on the front door of his family’s North Charleston home. On his porch was Patrolman Michael Thomas Slager, responding to a reported burglary in the neighborhood.

Givens said he cracked open the door and Slager pushed in, shooting him in the belly with a stun gun. The 33-year-old filed a formal complaint against Slager backed by at least two other witnesses, but police took no action.

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Biesecker reported from Raleigh, North Carolina. Associated Press Writer Jeffery Collins in North Charleston, South Carolina, contributed to this report.

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