FLORENCE, S.C. (AP) – The Latest on the shooting of seven South Carolina law enforcement officers (all times local):
9:15 a.m.
The suspect in the shooting of seven law-enforcement officers in South Carolina is a disbarred lawyer who has been charged several times in recent years, starting with a 2014 count of disorderly conduct.
Authorities identified the shooter in the Wednesday night incident as 74-year-old Frederick Hopkins. According to public court records, Hopkins’ charges include two in 2015 and 2017 for “running at large,” an offense related to not restraining one’s animals.
Public records show he’s the husband of Florence divorce attorney Cheryl Turner-Hopkins. South Carolina Bar records show Frederick Hopkins used to be a lawyer but has been disbarred.
Officials say one of the officers Hopkins shot was killed.
WIS-TV reports that Florence County Chief Deputy Glenn Kirby says Hopkins is hospitalized with a head injury and unable to speak with officers.
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9 a.m.
Authorities have named the suspect they believe shot seven police officers in South Carolina as they tried to serve a search warrant.
WIS-TV reports that Florence County Chief Deputy Glenn Kirby identified the suspect Thursday as 74-year-old Fred Hopkins.
Kirby says Hopkins is hospitalized with a head injury and unable to speak with officers. WPDE-TV reports Hopkins fell at the scene.
Kirby says officers were trying to serve a warrant involving an accusation that a 27-year-old person at the home sexually assaulted a foster child in the home.
One officer was killed and six others injured Wednesday in an upscale Florence neighborhood.
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12:05 a.m.
Authorities had to use a bullet-proof vehicle to rescue seven police officers in South Carolina who were shot by a man as they tried to serve a warrant.
Florence County Sheriff’s Maj. Mike Nunn said three deputies were shot around 4 p.m. Wednesday from a man inside a home in an upscale Florence neighborhood.
Florence Police Chief Allen Heidler says four of his officers were then shot, one fatally, as they rushed to the scene to assist the deputies.
Heidler asked for prayers for the slain officer, calling him the “bravest police officer I have ever known.”
Nunn says the man held children hostage during a two-hour standoff, but they weren’t harmed.
Authorities didn’t name the suspect or say why they were serving the warrant.
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