CLARENDON COUNTY, S.C. — The Clarendon County Sheriff's Office now says a man wanted in connection with a homicide in Virginia was the person who caused an hours-long standoff and hostage situation in Clarendon County on Thursday.
The sheriff's office released a statement on Friday stating that the incident began just before 12:45 p.m. as a reported break-in in the 1400 block of Spigner Road. However, dispatchers said they lost communication with the female caller before hearing her speaking with a male subject in the background.
Six deputies arrived minutes later and others soon found a 2015 Chevrolet Traverse in a ditch roughly a quarter mile from the - one that they quickly learned was reported stolen in Richmond, Virginia, and believed tied to a homicide investigation there.
Deputies at the home were about to enter the home when the open door was quickly closed as were the window blinds. As deputies attempted to make further contact with the suspect with a loudspeaker and sirens, dispatchers warned that the caller had warned that the man had a handgun. At some point, while deputies and other arriving law enforcement began establishing a perimeter around the home, the suspect then fired the gun several times.
A five-man team of deputies soon made entry into the home and cleared many of the rooms, but soon learned that both the suspect and the hostage were now in a bedroom.
Though, barricaded, the suspect was still communicating with deputies and identified himself as Ronald Broadnax - a man later confirmed to be a person of interest in a homicide investigation in Virginia.
Sheriff Tim Baxley said the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) team was then called to the scene, as were Clarendon County Fire Rescue and a LifeNet medical helicopter.
The suspect, now identified as Broadnax, continued to communicate with authorities but also fired more gunshots according to authorities. The hostage, meanwhile, was also able to continue speaking with the deputies.
The deputies eventually traded places with SLED SWAT members before Broadnax announced that he would exchange the hostage for a cell phone.
The sheriff said that the hostage climbed out of a window around 4:20 p.m. and was taken to a nearby ambulance for evaluation. Officers then began leaving the inside of the home as well but, according to the sheriff, they were alerted by a smoke alarm that the suspect had set a fire inside. A Clarendon County fire engine was used by deputies and SWAt team members to put the fire out.
Teams then threw tear gas into the home in order to get Broadnax to surrender. When that didn't happen, a SLED K-9 was sent in and successfully subdued him.
Since his apprehension, Clarendon County authorities have made contact with detectives in Richmond, Virginia who are now heading to South Carolina as part of their own investigation.
And Broadnax faces several new charges locally including kidnapping, first-degree burglary, second-degree arson, first-degree assault, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, and discharging a weapon within a dwelling.