Video Released of Cop Shooting Unarmed Man for Reaching for his ID

An unarmed man shot by a South Carolina trooper during a traffic stop repeated one question through his anguished cries as he lay wounded, waiting for an ambulance: "Why did you shoot me?"

Levar Jones' painful groans and then-Trooper Sean Groubert's reply — "Well you dove head first back into your car" — were captured by a dashboard camera in the trooper's car.

Groubert had stopped Jones on a seatbelt violation at a Columbia gas station and fired the shots moments after asking Jones for his license.

Later on the recording, Jones said he was just reaching into his vehicle for his identification after the trooper pulled up without his siren on. What appears to be his wallet can be seen flying through the air as Groubert fires four shots within seconds after confronting Jones.

The 31-year-old officer was charged with felony assault and fired less than three weeks after the Sept. 4 traffic stop.

Really don't understand what's going through this officer's mind and this obviously is becoming an all too common issue. If you ask a driver you've pulled over for his idea, chances are he's going to reach into his car to get it. If you're not prepared for that, what until you're in what you feel is a safe position before making that request. What complicates this however is that the cop pulled up without his sirens on, so I completely understand why the suspect had exited his car and had to reach back in.

But just running up on the guy, gun drawn and firing four shots? That's unbelievable.

One positive here is the criminal charges. Far too often we only see civilian settlements. More criminal charges are needed in situations like this if the hope is to effect change.

story

I don't understand. Someone can explain?

I mean ... is this a race thing? Is this a poor training thing? Is it shoot first, take cover later? Is this because the streets are so dangerous that most persons in the US buck a nine every time they get a traffic ticket?

Lot of places I live people get upset if a police officer fires their weapon at someone fleeing never mind reaching for their ID. Also they have piles of less than lethal toys and all the rest of it.

Personally I found the police here confusing, asking the person to get down and give ID. It's just silly. Even if the person was reaching for a gun they weren't exactly Billy the Kidd. I realize this is all the expected response and mostly outrage but ...

I *genuinely* to not understand or fathom how this could happen so regularly other than being perhaps a gun culture thing or maybe it's just a large population and it's not that common? If I was a cop and I'd made this error I'd be resigning the following morning and spending a few years in counselling.

(Oh should probably put a trigger warning on the video OP - it's not mega graphic but is someone being shot)

a reply to: nighthawk1954

I did a search and saw nothing on this.

a reply to: Pinke

its how they are trained...what the cop should have did was take cover behind his car and attempt verbal commands first...

i believe this cop really believed that the driver was going for a gun...and then we have no gun...so there is a huge failure in the training and the system of leo's.

i think sometimes this can be to what area you patrol. i remember training some people awhile back and a cop from some rough part of st louis did everything as if he was about to be shot. i asked him about it and he said this is how they are trained and the area is so bad the cops became much more aggressive with even the slightest opposition.

there are several no win scenarios in law enforcement where the officer can not win and the civilians can not win.

Why would anyone go reaching back into their car like that. For all that cop knew, he was grabbing a gun.

originally posted by: Fylgje
Why would anyone go reaching back into their car like that. For all that cop knew, he was grabbing a gun.

Because the cop asked for his ID? Then shot him even after he had backed out of the car and raised his hands?

The cop was wrong right from the start and escalated that wrong judgement into shooting the man. I'm calling this a combination of poor training, a fear-induced trigger-happy cop high off his "Medal of Valor" award for shooting someone who was more deserving, and MAYBE a little racial discrimination but i'm happy to retract that last if it is disagreeable.

a reply to: MysticPearl

I rarely take the other side in such incidents and don't switch on this incident, but today we have the video of the woman trying to escape a parking cop clinging to her hood. We gotta realize that a major part of our civilian population is going crazy too, not just trigger happy police. Sometimes it is a simple rage against authority and sometimes it is a loony or a drug induced situation. But in the citizenry in the last few decades there has been a slipping away of respect for the law. Granted in some small part this slight rebellion has been fueled by SWAT teams, and shootings such as this, but regardless, we have these two areas of conflict that are getting out of hand from both sides of the situation. And I don't claim to have a solution.

a reply to: MysticPearl

I'm not a cop, but I've seen training simulation videos where cops stand in front of a screen as different scenarios play out. They're not to fire their weapon until they can visually see a gun or weapon. This guy who was reaching for his ID clearly did not even have a chance to present a weapon for the officer to open fire like that! The guy who was shot at for trying to access his ID, will probably be living on easy streets after his law suit.

www.abovetopsecret.com... another ats thread on the topic,it seems the officer was fired though so at least that is good,seems a bit extreme to end up getting shot over a seat belt ticket

originally posted by: Fylgje
Why would anyone go reaching back into their car like that. For all that cop knew, he was grabbing a gun.

For ID , why would anyone discharge a firearm at an unarmed man?Why would anyone unholster their firearm when there is no threat present?

This is murder plain and simple and 50 million sounds right for his family and to set a precedent.

Dont be a cop if you cant handle the job,no one asked you to do it,you applied and were accepted,lots of people fail at their jobs but everyone doesnt have to murder a man just to fail.

Posted earlier here
www.abovetopsecret.com...

Please add further comments to the ongoing discussion in the above linked thread.
Thanks

**Thread Closed**