Florence SC County Man shot by police after setting fire to a house

A man from Florence County, South Carolina, was shot after barricading himself, setting a house on fire and shooting police officers, according to the Florence County Sheriff’s Office.

Officials from the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) are investigating the incident.

Last night, representatives from the Florence County Sheriff’s Office responded at the intersection of Hicks Road and Factory Street in Coward, South Carolina. A man locked inside a house was threatening to set the house on fire and shoot.

When the police arrived at the scene, the man continued his threats. He set the house on fire and shot deputies several times, according to SLED.

Florence county police then responded to the fire and shot the suspect, according to the sheriff’s office.

The suspect was taken to the local hospital because of the wound. No police officers were injured in the shooting.

Authorities did not release the suspect’s name.

The Florence County Sheriff’s Office asked SLED to investigate the incident.

This is the seventh police officer shooting in South Carolina this year.

South Carolina saw a record 49 shootings involving police in 2020, according to a press release from the State Law Enforcement Division. This corresponds to the brand defined in 2017 – and continues a worrying escalation of this metric.

SLED investigates police shootings as a matter of protocol in the vast majority of local law enforcement jurisdictions in the state of Palmetto – presenting independent investigative reports to the attorney with jurisdiction over the county or county where the shooting occurred.

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