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(Sumter) March 31, 2004 - A 20-year-old man is dead and a Sumter Police officer is injured after a shootout that happened Wednesday afternoon.
Sumter Police Chief Patty Patterson says the incident started as police responded to a domestic violence call just after noon. The caller said a man was beating a woman inside a vehicle. The woman ran away and told police that her boyfriend had stolen her car and her four-year-old child was inside.
Patterson says the man then picked up the couple's infant at a daycare and continued to run from officers.
Police pursued him, but say they were careful to keep the speed at posted limits for the safety of the children involved. Police eventually were able to place spiked stop sticks on the roadway to stop the man's car.
The man got out of the car at a field on Jenkins and Purdy Streets. Police initially believed the man was complying with their request for him to pull over. The man apparently had one of the children in his arms and began shooting at the officers. One officer was hit, but police did not return fire, again out of concern for the two children.
The man then reportedly put the child down and police fatally shot him. The man's cousin, Dan Bradley, says he will be missed, "I feel real hurt. I saw him this morning when I came to pick his brother up. He was right there on the porch, just another good day. It didn't turn out that way."
The officer shot, who is said to have been on the force several years, was transported to Tuomey Medical Center by helicopter and reportedly is in good condition. He is said to be the first officer injured on duty in Sumter in over 10 years.
The two children involved in the incident are said to be unharmed.
No word on the identity of the man shot by police. The State Law Enforcement Division is investigating.
(Sumter) March 31, 2004 - A 20-year-old man is dead and a Sumter Police officer is injured after a shootout that happened Wednesday afternoon.
Sumter Police Chief Patty Patterson says the incident started as police responded to a domestic violence call just after noon. The caller said a man was beating a woman inside a vehicle. The woman ran away and told police that her boyfriend had stolen her car and her four-year-old child was inside.
Patterson says the man then picked up the couple's infant at a daycare and continued to run from officers.
Police pursued him, but say they were careful to keep the speed at posted limits for the safety of the children involved. Police eventually were able to place spiked stop sticks on the roadway to stop the man's car.
The man got out of the car at a field on Jenkins and Purdy Streets. Police initially believed the man was complying with their request for him to pull over. The man apparently had one of the children in his arms and began shooting at the officers. One officer was hit, but police did not return fire, again out of concern for the two children.
The man then reportedly put the child down and police fatally shot him. The man's cousin, Dan Bradley, says he will be missed, "I feel real hurt. I saw him this morning when I came to pick his brother up. He was right there on the porch, just another good day. It didn't turn out that way."
The officer shot, who is said to have been on the force several years, was transported to Tuomey Medical Center by helicopter and reportedly is in good condition. He is said to be the first officer injured on duty in Sumter in over 10 years.
The two children involved in the incident are said to be unharmed.
No word on the identity of the man shot by police. The State Law Enforcement Division is investigating.
