This slain Myrtle Beach officer is getting a bridge named after him. Who is Jacob Hancher?

Almost two years after Myrtle Beach police officer Jacob Hancher was killed in the line of duty, the city he served is preparing to rename one of the region’s most well-traveled bridges in his memory, the fourth public dedication since his Oct. 3, 2020 slaying.

Who was Jacob Hancher?

Hancher, 23, joined the city’s police department in 2015 as a community service officer before ascending to a patrolman in January 2020. A Silver Spring, Maryland native, he graduated from Horry Georgetown Technical College. In addition to his law enforcement duties, Hancher volunteered at Horry County Fire Rescue Station 45.

What happened to Jacob Hancher?

On Oct. 3, 2020, Hancher was among a group of officers responding to a domestic dispute near 14th Avenue S. and Yaupon Drive when John Aycoth, distraught over a breakup with his girlfriend, exchanged gunfire with police around 10 p.m.

A later investigation by city police and the S.C. Law Enforcement Division concluded Aycoth intended to kill authorities that night.

“It was an ambush. And in one minute and 54 seconds, the person in that house took Jacob away from all the people who cared about him, us here in the police department, his family and this community,” Myrtle Beach Police Cpl. Tom Vest told reporters in February 2021.

A SLED report released in January 2021 laid out what happened in multiple timelines using body cam footage, interviews, 911 calls and forensic evidence collected at the scene.

Even after being struck multiple times by a 7.62 caliber semiautomatic rifle, Hancher continued returning fire from the ground.

Hancher became the third Myrtle Beach officer to die in the line of duty and its youngest. Joseph McGarry, 28, was shot on Dec. 29, 2002 four years into his tenure with the department.

And Henry Scarborough, 47, was killed during his first day on duty in 1949.

Public dedications and reactions to Hancher’s death

Earlier this year, the Myrtle Beach Police Department installed a bronze plate at its Tom C. Collins Law Enforcement Center headquarters in tribute to Hancher.

Since his death, he’s also been inducted into the S.C. Law Enforcement Hall of Fame, had his name etched into the National Law Enforcement Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. and had a portion of River Oaks Boulevard re-named in his memory.

City spokesman Mark Kruea said Monday officials got permission from the state Department of Transportation for the latest tribute, which will dedicate a part of the Highway 17 Bypass.

Gov. Henry McMaster, U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott, U.S. Rep. Tom Rice, and Congressman-elect Russell Fry, then a state representative, all praised Hancher’s heroism in social media posts shortly after his death.

Hancher dedication open to the public

The service is set to begin Aug. 5 at 3 p.m. Event parking will be available at the Coastal Grand mall, located at 2461 Coastal Grand Drive.