Police have released dashcam footage of a South Carolina trooper shooting an unarmed man as he was reaching into his car to grab his driver’s license.
The incident happened at the parking lot of a gas station just outside Columbia on September 4 when South Carolina Highway Patrol trooper Sean Groubert, 31, pulled over Levar Jones, 35, for allegedly not wearing his seatbelt.
In the footage released on Wednesday, we hear Groubert asking Jones for his driver’s license. As Jones reached into his vehicle to retrieve it Groubert yelled, “Get out of the car, get out of the car” and then shot the man repeatedly. He then tells the driver to “get on the ground“.
“I was just getting my license,” Jones says. He then asks, “What did I do son?” and apologizes. “All I did was reach for my license. I’m coming from work,” says Jones.
“Well, you dove head-first back into your car,” Groubert says. “Then you jumped back out, I’m telling you to get out of your car.”
Jones was hit in the hip and was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries, WACH reported. Jones was not found to be carrying any type of weapons.
Upon viewing the footage and reviewing the incident report, police authorities fired Groubert, who has now been charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature that could get him up to 20 years in prison if convicted, according to CNN.
Groubert was involved in another shooting incident back in 2012, when along with a fellow trooper, he shot and apprehended a suspect who had previously fired at them. Then, he was praised for his actions with the department giving him a medal.
South Carolina Public Safety Director Leroy Smith issued a statement in which he says that Groubert’s actions this time, were disturbing.
“The facts of this case are disturbing to me, but I believe this case was an isolated incident in which Mr. Groubert reacted to a perceived threat where there was none,” said Smith.
“Further, this incident occurred in broad daylight. Mr. Groubert had a clear and unobstructed view of Mr. Jones. While Mr. Groubert was within the law to stop Mr. Jones for a safety belt violation, the force administered in this case was unwarranted, inconsistent with how our troopers are trained, and clearly in violation of Department policies,” Smith added.