COLUMBIA, S.C. — Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott says a suspect in a domestic incident was shot by one of his deputies after the suspect first fired a gun at the officer.
Deputies say the incident took place around 1:40 p.m. Monday in the 2500 block of Marathon Drive, which is in a neighborhood just off Bluff Road south of Columbia.
Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said Deputy Josiah McComb responded to a domestic situation at a house there. According to deputies when McComb arrived the suspect, identified as 23-year-old Michael Jayvone Dennis, fired shots from a gun at the deputy.
McComb's vehicle was hit by gunfire but he was not injured. Deputies said McComb, who was still in his vehicle, fired back at the suspect, wounding him in the arm.
Lott said Dennis then ran to an adjacent home and grabbed a woman there by the neck and tried to hold her hostage. The sheriff said the woman's husband and other deputies were able to get the gun away from Dennis, and Dennis was taken into custody.
The suspect was then taken to the hospital for treatment.
"Very fortunate today we didn't lose one of our officers today to a shooting," Lott said.
The sheriff department's officer-involved investigators will review the facts of the case and present them to the local solicitor for review, Lott said.
