South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) agents are investigating after a Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office deputy shot a man while responding to a suicide call.
According to the SLED news release, “gunfire was exchanged” during the incident Wednesday night.
SLED did not provide any further details of the exchange.
The man was taken to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries, according to SLED.
The officer was not injured in the incident, according to SLED.
It is typical protocol for SLED to investigate officer-involved shootings.
“When requested to investigate an OIS, SLED’s goal is to conduct a thorough, independent criminal investigation as timely as is possible under the circumstances,” SLED said in the release. “SLED investigators will attempt to conduct interviews with all potential witnesses in this matter, including the involved officers and the individual in question. Further, SLED will attempt to collect all relevant evidence and will forensically test such evidence as needed.”
Wednesday night’s shooting in Berkeley County was the 24th officer-involved shooting in South Carolina in 2020 and the second this year in Berkeley County.
In May, South Carolina had two officer-involved shootings in one evening.
“In 2019, there were 45 officer involved shootings in South Carolina; one involved the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office,” the SLED news release said.
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