One Dead In Greer Hostage Situation, Shootout

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and the Greenville County Sheriff's Office is investigating a shootout that occurred Sunday night after attempts to peacefully resolve a hostage situation proved unsucccessful. 

At roughly 9:30 p.m. on Sunday the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office received a disturbance call at 4307 Skyland Drive in Greer.  A female from inside the residence told dispatchers that the suspect had arrived at the home, firing a weapon into the residence and making his way inside, Laura Campbell spokesperson for the GCSO said. 

Once deputies arrived at the incident location, attempts were made to call the suspect out of the home to no avail, Campbell said. 

By 10:20 p.m., Greenville County Sheriff’s Office S.W.A.T. team was activated and called in. Negotiators were able to speak via telephone to the suspect and through conversation learned that the suspect had shot one victim inside the home.  Deputies also learned that multiple adults and children were inside the home being held by the armed suspect.

"Once the negotiators and S.W.A.T. team members determined that the suspect did not intend on ending the situation peacefully, measures were taken to forcibly enter the home to save the hostage victims," Campbell said

Shortly after 12 a.m. Monday morning, S.W.A.T. personnel broke into the residence, at which point the suspect immediately opened fire on them.  

An exchange of gunfire between the officers and the suspect ensued, and during the firefight, two deputies were shot by the unidentified suspect. The two deputies sustained non-life-threatening injuries, and are being treated at Greenville Memorial Hospital. They have not yet been identified. 

Five victims to include two children were rescued from the home, while the condition of the shot suspect is not known. One unidentified male was found deceased in the home, believed to have been shot by the suspect when he first entered the home. 

The nature of the injured party's injuries are not yet known.

Per Sheriff’s Office Policy, the two deputies who shot the suspect have been placed on administrative duty pending the Sheriff’s Office internal investigation in addition to the investigation currently being conducted by SLED.