SLED Investigating Officer-Involved shooting in Darlington County
Agents from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) are investigating a shooting incident that occurred today in Darlington County following a confrontation between a suspect and deputies from the Darlington County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies were in the process of serving an arrest warrant when the confrontation transpired resulting in the male suspect being shot by law enforcement. A second person was also shot by law enforcement during the confrontation. Both were transported to a nearby hospital. The extent of their injuries are not available at this time. One deputy was also injured in a vehicle collision associated with the incident. No other injuries were reported.
SLED conducts law enforcement officer involved shooting (OIS) investigations at the request of the agency involved in the incident. 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 investigators will conduct interviews with all potential witnesses in this matter, including the involved officers and the individual in question. Further, SLED will collect all relevant evidence and will forensically test such evidence as needed.
Information gathered in the SLED investigation of the incident will be summarized in a case file report to be submitted to prosecutors.
This is an ongoing investigation. As such, no other information about the case will be disclosed by SLED at this time. SLED will defer to the Darlington County Sheriff’s Office for any information about their deputies.
The incident in Darlington County was the 35th officer involved shooting in South Carolina in 2020. It is the first this year involving Darlington County Sheriff’s office. In
2019, there were 45 officer involved shootings in South Carolina; two involved the Darlington County Sheriff’s Office.
