CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) – The Charleston County Coroner’s Office released the identity of the man shot to death during a shootout involving a police officer on Tuesday.
Jason Cooper, 28, of North Charleston, died at the North Romney Street shooting site at 3:24 am Tuesday, according to Charleston County subvisor Brittney Martin. An autopsy was ordered for Wednesday.
Cooper died after what Charleston police chief Luther Reynolds called a gunfight in the Bridgeview Village apartments on block 100 on North Romney Street, just around 3:15 am
Reynold gave a press conference Tuesday afternoon, hours after the shooting. He said five city police officers involved in the incident are on paid administrative leave while the shooting is being investigated by the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division.
Reynolds said the situation started when a woman called the police about a situation of domestic violence involving a gun. Police officers arrived at the scene and were greeted by a person with a gun, and after an exchange of fire, a Charleston police officer was shot in the chest area and taken to the hospital, Reynolds said.
“This policeman was wearing a ballistic vest, he was examined at the hospital and was discharged,” said Reynolds. “An individual who was involved in the shooting and associated with the initial call died.”
Reynolds said the suspect was an African American. The officers involved were white, he said.
It is not clear how long the investigation will take; he said that each investigation is different.
SLED to take over the investigation in a police shoot-out is normal, said Charleston Police spokesman Charles Francis. Many investigators and police officers remain on the scene along with members of the agency’s Professional Standards Division, which is also normal policy, said Francis.
He did not say how many times the suspect was injured in the shooting, saying the information was part of the ongoing investigation, but would be made public.
Reynolds and other officials promised that the police department would be transparent with the details of the investigation.
“We think we have a good timetable for what happened, but an investigation is underway,” said Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg. “We don’t have all the answers. We promise to be transparent and truthful and accountable and report everything we know when we can report to the public. “
Tecklenburg said that any loss of life is tragic, no matter who the victim is.
“So, we are very sorry for this loss of life. And, and we empathize with the families of everyone who was impacted by this event, ”he said.
This incident was the 49th police officer involved in shooting in South Carolina in 2020, according to SLED. It is the second this year involving the Charleston Police Department. In 2019, there were 45 police officers involved in shootings in South Carolina; none involved the Charleston Police Department.
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