Sheriff: Internal probe clears deputies in fatal shooting
GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina sheriff says an internal investigation has cleared deputies who shot and killed an armed man they were trying to arrest in February.
Greenville County Sheriff Hobart Lewis said in a YouTube video released on Sunday that all six deputies at the scene have been cleared in the Feb. 18 death of 39-year-old William Clayton Blackwell.
Four of the six fired at him, said Lt. Ryan Flood, the sheriff’s spokesman.
He said deputies had come to a mobile home to serve warrants accusing Blackwell of sex charges and child neglect. Blackwell came out with a pistol, ran behind the mobile home and got a magazine-fed rifle, Flood said.
“Blackwell fired a round and deputies observed him take a prone position with his rifle,” Flood said. He said Blackwell continued to point the rifle at deputies in spite of deputies' commands.
The video includes body camera footage of deputies shouting, “Drop the gun!” and, “He's taking a prone!”
It is difficult to make out Blackwell in the videos, which were taken from behind deputies' two-handed grips on their own weapons.
“As of the release of this video, all of the deputies in this video have been cleared,” Lewis said.
“The deputies' actions to return fire were justified under our policy,” he added.
The State Law Enforcement Division is still conducting its own investigation, Lewis said.