Video shows shooting of unarmed SC driver

Associated Press

COLUMBIA, S.C.

A South Carolina state trooper’s dashboard video shows an unarmed driver being shot just seconds after he was stopped for a seatbelt offense — and the trooper, who was fired last week, has been charged with assault.

As Levar Jones cried in pain waiting for an ambulance, he repeated one question: “Why did you shoot me?”

Jones’ painful groans and then-Trooper Sean Groubert’s reply — “Well, you dove head-first back into your car” — were captured by the camera.

The 31-year-old former trooper is charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, a felony that carries up to 20 years in prison. He was released after paying 10 percent of a $75,000 bond.

The dashboard-camera video was released by prosecutors Wednesday night after they showed it at Groubert’s bond hearing.

Jones was stopped Sept. 4. With the camera recording, Groubert pulls up without his siren on as Jones is getting out of his vehicle to go into a store.

“Can I see your license please?” Groubert asks.

As Jones turns and reaches back into his car, Groubert shouts, “Get outa the car, get outa the car.” He begins firing before he has finished the second sentence. There is a third shot as Jones staggers away, backing up with his hands raised, and then a fourth.