A South Carolina state trooper has been sacked and arrested after shooting an unarmed man whom he had seconds earlier pulled over for not wearing a seatbelt.
Sean Groubert, 31, who is white, is seen on dashboard video shooting Levar Jones, 35, who is black.
Mr Jones was struck in the hip and has been released from hospital. Mr Groubert has been freed on bail.
The arrest comes soon after two high-profile incidents in which white US police killed unarmed black men.
In video shot from a camera on the dashboard of Mr Groubert’s patrol car on 4 September, Mr Groubert pulls behind Mr Jones’s truck in a Richland County petrol station, then asks, “Can I see your licence please?”
Mr Jones, who has just stepped out of the truck, turns and reaches into the cab, with no apparent aggression in his manner.
An instant later Mr Groubert shouts “get out of the car” and bursts into the frame with gun drawn, then opens fire before Mr Jones can react.
In the next three seconds, at least four shots can be heard as Mr Jones puts his hands over his head then crumples to the ground.
