A chase for a stolen truck ended in a Columbia subdivision Sunday evening when one teenager was shot by a Richland County sheriff’s deputy and two others were bitten by police dogs.
A 16-year-old, whose name was not released by law enforcement as he is a juvenile, pointed a gun taken from the stolen truck at a Richland County sheriff’s deputy who then shot the teen, striking him several times, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said.
The gun was loaded, and the teen “racked a round into the gun and raised it up” towards the deputy, K9 Specialist Cody Sox, Lott said at a news conference Monday. Still images from a body camera presented by the sheriff’s department at the news conference showed a black handgun lying at the teen’s feet.
The State Media Co. has requested body camera and dash camera footage from the shooting.
The 16-year-old was taken to a hospital and is expected to recover, but “he will be in the hospital for a while,” Lott said. The 15-year-old accused of stealing the truck and 19-year-old Javonte Sutton, who was also in the vehicle, were treated for bite wounds at a hospital and have been released, the sheriff said.
Defending his deputy’s actions as appropriate, Lott blamed two familiar culprits: a gun culture he says has taken root among some teens, and legal gun owners who leave their weapons in unlocked cars.
“This is twice now in about a seven-week period I’m standing here talking about irresponsible gun owners and kids with guns who end up getting bit by police dogs and end up getting shot because they want to point guns at us or shoot at us or shoot our police dogs,” Lott said.
In March, a 17-year-old was shot by Richland County deputies in Columbia’s Rosewood area after deputies say he stole a pickup truck. When deputies tried to stop the truck, a shootout left a teen and a police dog shot. Neither suffered life-threatening injuries.
Sunday’s shooting in Carriage Oaks was set in motion around 11 p.m. Saturday, when the 15-year-old teen stole the white 2008 Ford F-250 pickup truck from a convenience store in the town of Lexington. The truck’s owner had left his keys in the truck along with a handgun when he ran inside in the convenience store.
“All events that I’m going to talk about from this point on could have been avoided… if somebody had not left their vehicle with their gun it,” Lott said. “That’s the common denominator for all these events.”
At some point, the 15-year-old picked up two friends. One of the teens had removed an ankle monitor prior to Sunday’s chase and shooting, Lott said. However, The sheriff declined to provide specific information about other charges against any of the teens because they were juveniles.
On Sunday evening around 5 p.m., Richland County sheriff’s deputies spotted the stolen truck at Penn Ridge Court and attempted a traffic stop. The teens fled, according the sheriff’s department, but the chase ended when they crashed into stop sign on Oak Manor Drive in the Carriage Oaks subdivision.
The teens ran through the neighborhood, pursued by sheriff’s deputies. Sutton was detained by K9 specialist Corey Mayo and his K9, Jax, while the 15-year-old driver was caught by Sox and his K9, Nevada.
In a statement, the sheriff’s department said that the 16-year-old jumped over a fence and “when confronted by deputies, pulled out a firearm and raised it towards” Sox.
The 16-year-old was charged with possession of a stolen vehicle, pointing and presenting a firearm and unlawful possession of a firearm under the age of 18. Sutton was charged with possession of a stolen vehicle and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The 15-year-old driver was charged with failure to stop for blue lights and possession of a stolen vehicle.
Deputies also recovered a black BB gun from the scene, believed to have been in the 15-year-old driver’s possession. It was proof that the teens likely intended to commit robberies, Lott said. The sheriff said his department was still investigating the teen’s movements and actions earlier in the day.
“This is a dangerous job,” Lott said. “I’m not standing here talking about our deputies being killed, I’m talking about kids with no conscience who just do not care.”
At the news conference, Lott also defended his department’s practice of investigating its own officer-involved shootings. While most law enforcement agencies in South Carolina request that the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division investigate officer-involved shootings, Lott said his department has the credibility and experience to gather the facts, which are then turned over to the 5th Circuit Solicitor’s Office and the sheriff’s department’s civilian oversight board for review.
“We’ve been doing this for over 10 years, we have teams that are trained to investigate this,” Lott said, referring to his department’s critical incident team. “We don’t make a determination if the shooting is good or not; the solicitor does that… we have plenty of safeguards in place.”
Sox is not being suspended while the investigation was taking place, Lott said, adding that the deputy will be going through mental health counseling.