It started as a routine police traffic stop for a faulty back brake light, developed into a scuffle and ended with an unarmed black man shot dead in the back by a white police officer. Michael Slager, the policeman, immediately reported that he had fired his pistol because he had feared for his life after Walter Scott had snatched his Taser stun gun. Any investigation would probably have been closed with his account of the events had a video not surfaced of the incident, recorded on a cellphone by an unidentified man who watched the fatal encounter in the South Carolina city of North Charleston.The shocking footage shows Slager firing a hail of bullets into Scott's back as he runs away from the officer, who then brusquely handcuffs the motionless, dying 50-year-old before placing what appears to be a stun gun next to his body. The 33-year-old officer, whose wife is eight months pregnant, has been charged with murder and could face the death penalty if convicted. He was fired yesterday.Without the video, said Scott's grieving father, Walter snr, ''this would have never come to light. They would have swept it under the rug, like they did with so many others. When I saw it, I fell to my feet and my heart was broken'', he said on NBC's Today show, adding that the officer ''looked like he was trying to kill a deer running through the woods''.The video has produced fresh outrage in the wake of high-profile cases of white officers killing unarmed black men and boys in New York, Ferguson and Cleveland. The deaths have sparked a national debate about police tactics and race relations. Scott's relatives appealed for calm and a protest rally held at the city hall passed peacefully, despite the mood of fury.As was the case with Eric Garner, the Staten Island man choked to death in a confrontation with police over the sale of untaxed cigarettes, Scott's killing followed an encounter over a minor offence: a broken car light. What happened afterwards is not caught on video, but it appears that Scott fled into a small park. Scott, a father of four who was engaged, had been arrested about 10 times, mostly for unpaid child support, court records show.In the park, there was a scuffle that drew the attention of the bystander with a cellphone camera who filmed the incident. As Scott pulled away from Slager, the video appeared to show wires fired from a Taser attached to his body. An object that resembled a stun gun fell to the ground near the two men and Scott started to run while the officer drew his gun. He was about five to six metres away and still running when Slager opened fire, shooting off seven bullets, then pausing before firing a final one.Five bullets had struck Scott, according to the coroner - three in the back, one in the buttocks and one in the ear. At least one hit his heart. ..