National

South Carolina trooper charged with felony in traffic stop shooting (VIDEO)

BY JOHN MONK

The (Columbia, S.C.) State
Sequence of events: 1. Motorist turns to get license as directed by trooper. 2. Trooper runs across the screen telling motorist to get out of the car 3. Trooper yelling at motorist 4. Trooper shoots motorist as motorist is standing up at door of car 5. Shot, motorist puts hands up and backs up 6. Motorist , hand up, continues to back up, asks why trooper shot him, and then falls down.
Sequence of events: 1. Motorist turns to get license as directed by trooper. 2. Trooper runs across the screen telling motorist to get out of the car 3. Trooper yelling at motorist 4. Trooper shoots motorist as motorist is standing up at door of car 5. Shot, motorist puts hands up and backs up 6. Motorist , hand up, continues to back up, asks why trooper shot him, and then falls down. The (Columbia, S.C.) State
COLUMBIA, SC

An South Carolina trooper who stopped a man for a seat belt violation outside Columbia and then shot him – apparently without provocation – was arrested Wednesday and charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature.

Sean Groubert, 31, a lance corporal who was fired from the Highway Patrol after the shooting incident, now faces 20 years in prison if convicted of wrongfully shooting the driver, Levar Jones.

Groubert was booked Wednesday evening at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center. He was fired from the patrol last Friday.

Wednesday night, in a hearing at the jail, Magistrate Ethel Brewer set Groubert’s bond at $75,000.

A video of the Sept. 4 shooting incident was played at Groubert’s bond hearing.

The video shows Groubert firing repeatedly at Jones, who was not armed and who was not behaving aggressively. Jones was struck at least once, in the hip. He spent time in the hospital and is now out of the hospital recuperating.

This story was originally published September 25, 2014 at 9:30 AM with the headline "South Carolina trooper charged with felony in traffic stop shooting (VIDEO)."

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