When I was still an innocent high school student, a police officer was brought in to talk to my religion class from a unique perspective. This same officer attempted to explain how racial profiling was a common practice used by local police to enforce laws.

That’s the day when I started to view police differently.

The murder of Walter Scott, a 50-year-old black man, by (former) Officer Michael Slager in South Carolina is heart breaking. Now that it’s gotten over 24 hours in the mainstream news cycle, it could quite possibly become the next racially charged national coverage phenomenon. But unlike the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, the world saw this. And unlike the death of Garner in New York City, it’s pretty safe to say there’s no chance this was an “accident”.

Thanks to a very brave citizen that was nearby at the time, the entire world has seen video footage of Slager firing eight shots in the direction of a retreating Walter Scott, fatally shooting him in the back then handcuffing his presumably dead body. Slager can then be seen dropping an object near Scott. Many believe that what was dropped was the Taser stun gun Slager claimed he struggled with Scott over, in an attempt to cover up the incident.

According to reports, Slager pulled Scott over in a traditional traffic stop. Scott then fled the scene on foot with Slager in pursuit, which is when the alleged struggle over the Taser took place. Unfortunately, the footage only captures what happened after this alleged altercation.

The footage leaves no room to question whether or not Slager murdered Scott. As of now, the question at the front of everyone’s minds is “Why?”

But before we try to answer that question something needs to be addressed.