Horry Sheriff’s deputy in Nichols officer-involved shooting named, investigations ongoing
An Horry County Sheriff’s deputy was placed on leave pending an investigation following an officer-involved shooting in Nichols on Monday.
On Thursday, the sheriff’s office identified deputy First Class Jack Lee as the officer in the shooting.
The department’s office of professional standards will conduct an internal review of the incident after a state investigation is complete, and Lee’s leave is paid. The internal investigation in standard protocol.
The shooting happened in the Nichols area and remains under investigation by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.
The sheriff’s office assisted Horry County police in the initial response to the Nichols area after a report of an armed man — later identified as Brandon Elliott, 30 — who fired several shots at personal property and threatened others.
Officers, SWAT team members and dog teams responded to the area. Police searched a wooded area and asked the community to avoid the area or to shelter in place.
During the search, Lee shot Elliott, who later died at the hospital.
The shooting is the latest in a recent series of deaths involving county sheriff’s deputies. Two former deputies face criminal charges after they drove into floodwaters while transporting two mental health patients in the aftermath of Hurricane Florence. A sheriff’s deputy also hit and killed a person with his vehicle as the victim walked along S.C. Highway 31.
Three inmates also died in 2018 at J. Reuben Long Detention Center, which the Sheriff’s office operates. The office was cleared in one death, another was ruled natural causes and the third was ruled a suicide.
This story was originally published March 28, 2019 at 3:30 PM.
