On Thursday, a sheriff’s deputy in Hollywood, South Carolina responded to a home invasion call with another deputy and ended up shooting the home owner. The two deputies encountered the armed homeowner in the back of his mobile home. When he refused to drop his weapon, a deputy shot him in the neck.
Two men were seen fleeing the scene on bicycles, and before getting shot the homeowner told police he had exchanged gun fire with the intruders. It was unclear whether either of those two men were injured when they fled the scene. By Thursday afternoon, one of the two men who fled the scene was under arrest. The Charlotte Observer reports that police arrested Thomas Zachary Brown, 22, and he was charged with first-degree burglary and attempted murder in connection with the home invasion. The homeowner was taken to the hospital and went straight into surgery. His condition was not immediately known.
Sheriff’s Maj. Eric Watson said the identities of the deputy and the shooting victim would be released on Friday, but he did say that the homeowner is black and the two deputies are white. For now, the State Law Enforcement Division is investigating the shooting and the sheriff’s office will investigate the home invasion.
Thursday’s shooting was the second in the past month involving law enforcement in Charleston County. On April 4, a white North Charleston police officer shot and killed a black man who he said fought with him over the officer’s stun gun. Officer Michael Slager claimed that he killed Walter Scott in self-defense. But a bystander’s video showed him firing eight shots at the man’s back as he ran away. Slager has been charged with murder.