COLUMBIA, S.C. -- An unarmed man shot by a South Carolina trooper during a traffic stop repeated one question through his anguished cries as he lay wounded, waiting for an ambulance: "Why did you shoot me?"

Levar Jones' painful groans and then-Trooper Sean Groubert's reply -- "Well you dove head first back into your car" -- were captured by a dashboard camera in the trooper's car.

Groubert had stopped Jones on a seatbelt violation at a Columbia gas station and fired the shots moments after asking Jones for his license.

Later on the recording, Jones said he was just reaching into his vehicle for his identification after the trooper pulled up without his siren on. What appears to be his wallet can be seen flying through the air as Groubert fires four shots within seconds after confronting Jones.

Groubert's lawyer, Barney Giese, said the shooting was justified because the trooper feared for his life and the safety of others. But prosecutors and Groubert's boss disagreed.

The 31-year-old officer was charged with felony assault and fired less than three weeks after the Sept. 4 traffic stop.

The dashboard camera video was released by prosecutors Wednesday night after they showed it at Groubert's bond hearing. He was released after paying 10 per cent of a $75,000 bond.

Jones is recovering after being shot in the hip. He released a statement last week saying he hopes his shooting leads to changes in how police officers treat suspects.

So far in 2014 in South Carolina, police have shot at suspects 35 times, killing 16 of them, according to the State Law Enforcement Division. The number of officer-involved shootings has been steadily increasing over the past few years, with 42 reported in 2013.

Groubert is white and Jones is black, but neither state police nor the FBI keeps detailed statistics on the races of people in officer-involved shootings.

Much like the recent police shooting of a black teenager in Ferguson, Missouri, the racial aspect of the South Carolina shooting bothers state Rep. Joe Neal, who wants a review of training for officers across South Carolina and police agencies to follow a law requiring them to collect data about the race of people stopped by officers.

"You are doing exactly what the police officer asked you do to and you get shot for it?" said Neal. "That's insane."