A black man was shot on his own property after he was the one who called the police to report a burglary at his home.
Via The Daily Mail:
A white South Carolina sheriff has shot and critically wounded a black homeowner defending his own property against two men who had broken in, sparking an internal investigation.
Two Charleston County Sheriff’s deputies arrived to the mobile home in Hollywood, on Thursday morning after receiving a 911 call from a man identifying himself as the owner, Bryant Heyward.
When they arrived the officers reported they saw a man standing in the doorway who refused to drop his gun when requested, so one of the deputies shot him in the neck.
According to the 911 calls released to the public, Heyward hid in his laundry room and waited for the police to arrive after the break-om.
‘Someone was trying to break into my house, please come,’ said Heyward.’It’s an emergency and they have guns.’
As a South Carolina sheriff’s deputy responded to a report of a home invasion, he shouted commands at a black homeowner holding a gun before firing at the man and wounding him in the neck, according to an incident report released Friday.
The Charleston County Sheriff’s Office report summarizes the incident involving Deputy Keith Tyner, who is white, and another deputy on Thursday in the rural community of Hollywood, in a subdivision of mobile homes and brick ranch homes.
When deputies arrived at the mobile home down a dirt driveway they saw a gunshot hole in a front window and the back door appeared to be damaged, the incident report says.
The homeowner, later identified as Bryan Heyward, came out of the back door with a gun and the officer told him to drop it, Sheriff’s Maj. Eric Watson said.
‘As we were approaching, the back door swung open,’ said the report written by Deputy Richard Powell, who responded to the scene with Tyner. Powell said he could not see into the house from his vantage point.
The deputy wrote that he ‘heard Deputy Tyner shout verbal commands and that there was a gun’ and ‘next heard gunfire as Deputy Tyner fired to suppress the threat.’
Heyward was taken to the Medical University of South Carolina with life threatening injuries, Watson said. A hospital spokesman said Friday he had no information to report on anyone with that name.
In the ambulance, Heyward told police he had exchanged gunfire with two suspects who fled the home on bicycles, authorities said.
Later Thursday police arrested Thomas Zachary Brown, 22 and charged him with first-degree burglary and attempted murder in connection with the home invasion. Watson said he did not believe Brown sustained any injuries.
The State Law Enforcement Division is investigating the shooting and the sheriff’s office will investigate the home invasion, Watson said.
Law enforcement officials planned to meet with community leaders later Friday to discuss the shooting, the second in recent months involving law enforcement in Charleston County.
Charleston County has been in a lot of heat lately for actions of their police. I hope Heyward will pull through from his injuries and that a thorough investigation of this incident will be conducted.