North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey: "There have been two families that have been harmed greatly - both the victim's and the officer's family."
North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey: "There have been two families that have been harmed greatly - both the victim's and the officer's family."
US authorities have refused to say whether other police officers will be charged in the cover-up of an unarmed black father's fatal shooting by a white cop.
North Charleston Mayor Keith Summey would not answer questions on the involvement of other members of the force in the killing of Walter Scott, 50, who was shot five times in the back by Officer Michael Slager in South Carolina.
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The 33-year-old patrolman, who is white, initially defended his actions, saying he feared for his life after Mr Scott wrestled his Taser gun from him during a scuffle when he pulled him over for a broken brake light on Saturday morning.
Four days later, anonymous cellphone footage emerged and blew Slager's story wide open.
The video showed the officer firing eight shots at Mr Scott, a father-of-four, from around six metres away while the man had his back turned and was fleeing. Sagler then cuffed Mr Scott's lifeless body and was seen dropping an object - possibly his service-issue Taser - by his side.
The officer was charged with murder on Tuesday and could face the death penalty.
During a chaotic press conference on Wednesday, demonstrators grew angry after the mayor took over questions directed at Police Chief Eddie Driggers who stepped back from the podium.
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Mayor Summey refused to answer questions on other cops' involvement, citing an independent investigation underway by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.
Slager was fired one day after his murder charge but his wife, who is eight months' pregnant, would still receive insurance from the city until after her baby was born because it was the "humane thing to do", the mayor said.
'Pray for this family'
Mayor Summey and his wife, along with the police chief, visited the Scott family on Wednesday. Mayor Summey said: "This has been a horrible tragedy. There have been two families that have been harmed greatly - both the victim's and the officer's family."
The mayor continued: "I was taken aback by the warm and kind reception that we received from Scott family. They are an outstanding family within our community. The mother and father are wonderful people and they are suffering.
"Please pray for this family. We will be there to support them for the funeral with a police escort. Give them the utmost respect and that for the deceased."
Mr Scott, a veteran of the US Coastguard, leaves a fiancée, his siblings and four children.
The mayor said that 250 body cameras were going to installed on police officers' uniforms and that drafting of a policy for use was already underway.
Walter Scott, left, and the man who shot him, Michael Slager.
Chief Driggers told the press conference that he was "sickened" by the video and had watched it only once.
No other officers had seen what happened at the shooting scene, according to Chief Driggers.
When asked why no one had performed CPR on Scott, Chief Driggers then said he believed one cop had taken off Mr Scott's shirt and tried to perform life-saving measures.
'No justice, no peace'
Chief Driggers said that he had spoken to Walter Scott Sr "father to father" during a visit to the grieving family's home.
"I would ask you to give them the respect they deserve during this time,' he said. "We are doing our best as a police department not only to serve but to protect during this time. We are going to continue to strive to do what's right."
He added: "I have been praying for peace, peace for the family and peace for this community."
Before the press conference, demonstrators held up signs and chanted: "This is what democracy looks like" and "no justice, no peace".
Chief Driggers said his department had been under "no obligation" to turn over the investigation to an independent body but did so "because it was the right thing to do".
Demonstrators gathered outside city hall earlier on Wednesday, holding signs which read Black Lives Matter, to protest against the latest cop killing at a time of mounting unrest over police use of force in the US - particularly against black men.
The Charleston County Coroner's Office announced on Wednesday that the 50-year-old's death was the result of multiple gunshot wounds to the back. The death was deemed a homicide.
The father of Walter Scott told the Today show on Wednesday that the family wanted justice for their son.
"It would have never come to light. They would have swept it under the rug, like they did with so many others," Walter Scott Sr said.
"The way he [Slager] was shooting that gun, it looked like he was trying to kill a deer... I don't know whether it was racial, or it was something wrong with his head."
An outraged representative of Scott's family added: "This was a cop who felt like he could get away with just shooting anybody that many times in the back."
