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The Greenville County, South Carolina sheriff’s office (GCSO) has issued a statement in connection with an accidental shooting involving a pair of its K9 deputies that took place last week.
News of the shooting was first reported by this news outlet over the weekend.
“The GCSO Office of Professional Standards is conducting an internal investigation after a deputy sustained a non-life threatening gunshot wound to his foot last Wednesday, while training in Abbeville County,” GSCO lieutenant Ryan Flood said. “The injured deputy was treated and released from the hospital and is recovering from his injury.”
According to Flood, “deputies were at a training exercise on Industrial Park Drive and Highway 28 when the incident occurred.”
“A deputy has been placed on paid administrative leave while the internal investigation is ongoing,” Flood added.
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Because the shooting occurred during a training exercise and did not involve a confrontation with a suspect – or any interaction with the public, for that matter – a decision was made not to refer the matter to the S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) for investigation.
That decision was made by authorities in Abbeville, not Greenville County.
SLED investigates officer-involved shootings as a matter of protocol in the vast majority of local law enforcement jurisdictions in the Palmetto State – presenting independent, investigative reports to the solicitor with jurisdiction over the county or municipality where the shooting transpired.
Unfortunately, this is not standard operating procedure in all 46 South Carolina counties – and legislation attempting to make it so has failed to clear the S.C. General Assembly in recent years.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Will Folks is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and seven children.
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3 comments
“That decision was made by authorities in Abbeville, not Greenville County.”
One quickly finds out- Abbeville is like another planet. Stories abound proving that the Reasonable Person Standard is an absolutely foreign concept out there in that wild west town. “Arrogantly Ignorant” is the county motto. Lol.
What happened to “What happens in Abbeville stays in Abbeville”?
Abbeville would prefer to handle it, revise its training procedures, and return to prior policy of disarming law enforcement agents from outside juridical. This incident alone shows the present procedure of allowing only one bullet per visiting officer is inadequate.
I was charge with a crime why aren’t these deputies being charged.