The parents of Walter Scott say "justice will be served" following the release of cellphone video which shows police officer Michael Slager fatally shooting their son following a traffic stop.

"It would have never come to light. They would have swept it under the rug, like they did with many others," Walter Scott Sr. said of the video's release. "When I saw it, I fell to my feet and my heart was broken."

Slager was arrested Tuesday and faces 30 years to life in prison or the death penalty if convicted, state officials said.

"The way he [Slager] was shooting that gun, it looked like he was trying to kill a deer...I don't know whether it was racial, or it was something wrong with his head," Scott Sr. told TODAY's Matt Lauer.

Asked if he thought justice would be served, Scott's father answered affirmatively. "God is in the plan...I believe in my heart that God is going to finish this right now."