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Traffic stop victim shot by policeman: Video is 'shocking and disturbing'

Speaking for the first time since the release of dash-cam video showing him being shot at a gas station last month by a South Carolina state trooper during a traffic stop, Levar Jones said he still refuses to watch the footage. "It's shocking, and it's very disturbing,'' Jones told Matt Lauer in an exclusive interview on TODAY Friday. "Me personally, I wasn't the only person that was affected by

Speaking for the first time since the release of dash-cam video showing him being shot at a gas station last month by a South Carolina state trooper during a traffic stop, Levar Jones said he still refuses to watch the footage. 

"It's shocking, and it's very disturbing,'' Jones told Matt Lauer in an exclusive interview on TODAY Friday. "Me personally, I wasn't the only person that was affected by this. I know total strangers that have met me after the fact and told me they started crying." 

Former South Carolina state trooper Sean Groubert, 31, was fired from his job as a South Carolina state trooper on Sept. 25 after police reviewed the footage showing him shooting Jones near Jones' truck. Groubert said he was stopping Jones for a seat belt violation. Jones, who was not armed, was shot in the hip in the encounter and is currently using a cane as he continues his recovery. 

More from Jones: 

  • On Groubert, who faces potentially up to 20 years in prison after being charged with assault and battery: "I really feel he needs to be charged with something that holds felony status,'' Jones said. "That way he will have to sign the Gun [Control] Act, will no longer be able to carry a gun, will no longer be able to be a police officer." 
  • On his story being questioned before the video was released: "To tell that story to anybody is just something that no one can believe the first time until the tape was released and they've actually seen it,'' he said. 

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