A police officer in South Carolina was charged with voluntary manslaughter after shooting a man who ran a stop sign before instigating a high-speed chase at more than 100 miles per hour (160km/h).
Robert Junior Langley, 46, died on Sunday after the officer allegedly followed in pursuit outside the rural Georgetown County town of Hemmingway, according to the Associated Press.
Officer Cassandra Dollard, 52, gave chase for eight miles (13 kilometres) before Mr Langley crashed his car into a ditch, according to an arrest warrant from the State Law Enforcement Division.
Ms Dollard told investigators she feared for her life when shooting Mr Langley in the chest, according to the warrant cited by AP.
Dashboard camera footage played to Mr Langley’s family showed the father of 10 “rolled through a stop sign”, according to family attorney Bakari Sellers.
Mr Sellers said Mr Langley didn’t have any arrest warrants and made no action that would have led the officer to fear she was going to be killed.
“They were able to hear him being shot unjustifiably. They were able to see him gargling blood and fighting for air,” Sellers said. “All because a cop was, one, out of her depth and, two, apparently not trained well or didn’t listen in training,” he added.
Speaking after the charges, Mr Langley’s mother, Roslyn Langley, said the family wants “justice for all”.
“It’s just a cruel way to take a man’s life,” she said. “[he] was the sweetest man in the world, would harm nobody. If you asked him for his shirt today, if you didn’t have one, he would give it to you.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
