Charleston police arrested a man suspected of threatening neighbors with a gun after a police shooting at a West Ashley apartment complex on March 10.
The man was hit by a police bullet and was wounded, said Chief Luther Reynolds. He was taken to a hospital and is in a stable condition.
No one else, including officers, was injured.
Police leave the Colonial Grand in Cypress Grove after responding to a police officer involved in a gunshot on Wednesday, March 10, 2021, in West Ashley. Gavin McIntyre / Team
The officers were called at 11:01 am to the Colonial Grand at Cypress Cove Apartments, 3590 Mary Ader Ave., after someone called 911 and told dispatchers that there was an armed man intimidating neighbors, the police said.
“(They) arrived minutes after being dispatched and located the specific apartment within the complex where the suspect was located,” said police. “While they were at the scene, the police heard a single shot.”
Personnel from the department’s Special Operations Division, including crisis negotiators, were working to mitigate the situation when the shooting occurred, police said.
The suspect appears to have shot the police without provocation, Reynolds said, adding that the investigation was still in its early stages and not all the facts about what happened at the scene were known.
The suspect was outdoors at the time of the shooting, he said. Investigators still did not know whether the man took any hostages.
Police spokesman Charles Francis said the man was in custody at 12:25 pm
Both the suspect and the police officer involved are white men, said Reynolds. The suspect is 25 years old. His name was not released on March 10.
Additional information about the officer was not available; however, the chief said he plans to release more information, including the official’s identity and service record, in the coming days.
Reynolds said he was proud of his officers for continuing to do their jobs in the face of life-threatening danger.
Charleston City Chief of Police Luther Reynolds speaks to reporters next to the Colonial Grand in apartments in Cypress Grove after a police officer was shot in on Wednesday, March 10, 2021, in West Ashley. Gavin McIntyre / Team
“This is the third incident in just two months that police have found an armed violent criminal,” he said. “I am proud and grateful that we have police in this department, across this region, across this country that are putting their lives at risk to keep our communities safe. They are altruistic and are fighting for others and protecting our citizens who cannot fight for themselves. “
State Law Enforcement Division agents responded and will conduct an independent investigation in conjunction with the Charleston Police Department’s administrative review.
A photo of a rifle similar to the one used by a man suspected of shooting the Charleston police on Mary Ader Avenue in West Ashley on Wednesday, March 10, 2021. Charleston Police Department / Provided
The shooting scene was not visible outside the apartment complex’s property. A truck was seen leaving the area at around 1:30 pm carrying SWAT members armed with rifles. A policeman stopped on the pavement outside, driving away those who did not live in the development.
This was the third shooting involving a Charleston police officer since late December, and it was the 11th overall in South Carolina this year.
In 2020, there were 49 across the state, two of which involved Charleston police officers.
SLED did not comment further on the shooting, transferring it to the police department.
The latest shooting came days after Ninth Circuit attorney Scarlett Wilson announced that police would not face criminal charges in the December 29 shooting at the Bridgeview Village apartments on North Romney Street on the peninsula.
In that case, the police said that Jason Cooper, 28, started a shootout with police officers responding to a domestic violence call. A police officer was shot, but was not seriously injured. Cooper was killed in the shooting.
On January 19, a Charleston officer opened fire on a Montrez Cyrus Simmons, 39. Simmons, who had been charged with murder in a murder in Georgetown County. He was also accused of stealing the vehicle that the Charleston police pursued. Simmons was hospitalized in the shooting.
Talk to Sara Coello at 843-901-2995 and follow her on Twitter @smlcoello.