Walter Scott shooting: Michael Slager's mother says his heavily pregnant wife is devastated

Slager's mother insists son’s shooting of an unarmed black man 'was not a racial thing'

Officer Michael Slager has been charged with murder over the incident (EPA)

The heavily pregnant wife of a white police officer who shot dead an unarmed black man is reportedly devastated after his arrest on suspicion of murder.

North Charleston police officer Michael Slager fired eight shots at 50-year-old Walter Scott’s back several times after stopping him in South Carolina over a broken light in his car.

The fatal shooting sparked outrage across the world when a video emerged showing the 33-year-old shooting Scott in the back as he ran away. Slager has been charged with murder.

His mother Karen Sharpe admitted that she can’t bring herself to watch the footage but defended her son against accusations of racism in a tearful interview with ABC News, where she insisted: “It is not a racial thing – he was not grown up [sic] that way”.

Karen Sharpe, Michael Slager's mother

"He was doing a job, he was doing what he thought he needed to do so that’s the way I needed to look at it," she said. “I want everyone to know that he is a very good person – he’s not a hater. He's a sweet, sweet kid.”

Ms Sharpe said Slager’s wife is eight months pregnant and has had to attend doctors’ appointments without her husband.

"He has a little baby on the way, due next month, and they worked so hard for this baby," Ms Sharpe said. "I know he would go to all the appointments, all the OB appointments, and he had to miss it today.

"She was just so sad because he was not there and I know that he would not do something purposeful to not be able to be with his wife during the delivery. They just tried so hard for this.”

Video footage from Slager's dash cam released on Thursday showed Scott fleeing from a vehicle after being stopped. It did not show the actual shooting.