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The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) announced an investigation into an officer-involved shooting that occurred on a highway in Aiken County last Thursday (July 25, 2024).
Per SLED’s news release, deputies with the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) responded to a 9-1-1 call regarding a man acting “erratically” – removing his clothes as he walked along Columbia Highway in the direction of J.D. Lever Elementary School (2404 Columbia Hwy N).
When deputies arrived on the scene at approximately 2:00 p.m. EDT, the suspect allegedly initiated a physical altercation.
“While talking to the suspect, he started a physical fight with deputies where one of them was injured,” a statement from ACSO noted.
According to SLED’s release, ACSO deputies deployed tasers on the suspect – which were “ineffective” in deescalating the situation. This resulted in deputies shooting the man.
The man – whose identity was not released – was transferred to a local hospital. According to ACSO, he was in “critical condition” at the time of his admission. According to SLED, no deputies were shot during the altercation, although one was transported to the hospital in a patrol car with injuries.
That officer is reportedly in stable condition.
SLED was asked to investigate the incident by the ACSO. In fact, the sheriff’s release asked “anyone (who) has any videos of this incident” to send them to the statewide agency using the following evidence submission portal.
SLED investigates officer-involved shootings as a matter of protocol in the vast majority of local law enforcement jurisdictions in the Palmetto State – providing independent investigative reports to the solicitor with jurisdiction over the county or municipality where the shooting transpired. In this case, that’s the office of S.C. second circuit solicitor Bill Weeks.
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SLED stated its agents will continue to investigate this incident by conducting interviews with all potential witnesses, collect all relevant evidence and forensically test such evidence as needed and summarize information gathered during the investigation in a case file report to be submitted to prosecutors.
No additional information regarding the investigation will be released at this time.
Thursday’s incident marks the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office’s first officer-involved shooting this year – compared to the three officer-involved shootings the law enforcement agency had in 2023.
For the year, this is South Carolina’s 28th officer-involved shooting in 2024 – and the fifth this month. South Carolina set a record for officer involved shootings in 2017 with 49 such incidents. That record was matched three years later in 2020.
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THE RELEASE …
(SLED)
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Erin Parrott is a Greenville, S.C. native who graduated from J. L. Mann High School in 2021. She is currently a senior at the University of South Carolina majoring in broadcast journalism. Got feedback or a tip for Erin? Email her here.
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1 comment
Meth