Firearms Owners Against Crime
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
Institute for Legal, Legislative and Educational Action
A retired Berkeley County deputy shot and wounded a burglar at his home Wednesday morning, according to the State Law Enforcement Division.
SLED spokesman Thom Berry says it happened at a home on Poplar Hill Drive in Ridgeville. He said the call from Berkeley County authorities came in at 7:45 a.m.
A man who lives nearby said he heard and saw a majority of what unfolded early Wednesday morning.
He said it was around 7 a.m. when he heard a man and woman arguing with each other.
“She be like, come back, come back,” he said. “She just kept calling his name. I didn’t know what was going on, I thought it was just couples arguing, but when he got right here in this yard, something wasn’t right.”
The neighbor said he has never seen the man before, but watched him as he ran up the former deputy’s driveway. Then he heard a gunshot.
Berry said the former deputy shot the 16-year-old intruder in the leg after finding the person in his home.
“About a minute, thirty seconds after he went in the yard, POW!” said the neighbor. “[The woman] starts screaming, why you shoot, why you shoot? He [was] like, he’s in my yard, he’s in my house.”
The teen was transported to MUSC with non-life-threatening injuries.
The sheriff's office called in SLED because the shooting involved one of their retired deputies, Chief Deputy Mike Cochran said.
“All of us in this area know… when he was policeman and retired and all that,” the neighbor said. “So when he went over there… the dude was wrong. He ain’t supposed to be over there.”
SLED agents were on scene throughout the morning and early afternoon collecting evidence and taking statements.
So far, no charges have been filed, but the investigation is continuing, Berry said.