An ex-South Carolina state trooper pleaded guilty Monday to assault and battery after shooting an unarmed man at a gas station in 2014.
Sean Groubert, 33, faces 20 years in prison for striking Levar Jones in the hip during the Sept. 4 traffic stop in Columbia.
Groubert, a former corporal who was fired shortly after the shooting, said little during a court hearing on Monday, although he did acknowledge being diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder for an incident in 2012. Groubert’s lawyer offered few details, though he said the trooper was “shot at” and he “returned fire.”
In dash-cam video of the 2014 shooting, the trooper can be seen pulling up beside Jones, who Groubert believed was not wearing a seat belt.
After Groubert asks for a driver’s license, Jones leans into his car. “Get out of the car,” Groubert can be heard shouting before immediately firing several shots at Jones.
“That’s my license — right there,” Jones says after being shot. He then adds: “What did I do, sir?”
In a statement Groubert gave after the shooting, he said that he “observed” Jones “take an aggressive stance toward me.”
Believing that Jones had a pistol in his hand, Groubert said, he fired several times.
“Everything seemed to be happening in fast-forward,” Groubert said. “I was unsure if the shots fired were coming from my own pistol or if he was actively shooting at me.”
Groubert, who had been working as a truck driver while out on bond and was arrested last year for shoplifting, according to NBC affiliate WIS, faces a maximum of 20 years in prison.