Washington, April 9 (IANS): The man who recorded the video of a white police officer shooting black man Walter Scott in the US state of South Carolina said the officer had the situation under control when he opened fire, Efe news agency reported.

In an interview with the NBC network, the witness, Feidin Santana, explained that he began recording when the two men were on the ground.

"Before I started recording, they were down on the floor. I remember the police (officer) had control of the situation. He had control of Scott. And Scott was trying just to get away from the Taser. As you can see in the video, the police officer just shot him in the back," said Santana, also an African-American.

The video which Santana passed to Scott's family has made North Charleston in South Carolina a place known worldwide, and led lawyers representing Scott's family to call him a “hero”.

Officer Michael Slager, 33, who initially pulled Scott over for driving with a broken tail light on Saturday night, appeared on Wednesday before the judge, a day after being arrested for murder.

Santana's video, released on Tuesday, has been vital in enabling authorities to take immediate action against Slager, now held without bail for murder, a crime that can carry the death penalty in South Carolina.

The video shows Slager fire his gun eight times at Scott from behind as he ran away, and shows Scott fall to the ground fatally wounded.

Slager has also been fired from his job.