The South Carolina police officer who shot an unarmed traffic stop suspect in the back is closely tied to South Jersey.

33-year-old Charleston County, S.C. Patrolman Michael Thomas Slager is a graduate of Lenape Regional High School in Medford, 6abc.com reports.

Slager has been fired from the North Charleston Police Department and is now behind bars, charged with murder.

Cell phone video is shown below of the final seconds of the fatal encounter between Slager and 50-year-old Walter Lamar Scott, a father of four pulled over for a traffic stop.

Slager alleges Scott reached for his stun gun and that he feared for his life, firing eight shots at Scott.

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