‘Nothing worse’: Jacob Hancher is Myrtle Beach’s third police officer to die on duty
Fatal shootings of police in the line of duty are rare in the United States but it doesn’t ease the burden of a community.
“There’s always a chance of a tragedy like this happening and it affects everyone and can for a long time,” said Geoffrey Alpert, a professor of criminology at the University of South Carolina.
Myrtle Beach police officer Jacob Hancher was killed during a shootout late Saturday Night on Yaupon Drive. The 23-year-old had been a patrolman for just under a year and before that he served in the community service division. Hancher also served as a volunteer firefighter with Horry County.
Hancher is the third Myrtle Beach police officer to lose his life on duty in the department’s history. He was also the youngest.
Alpert said an incident like this can make officers second guess themselves, other officers and even their careers.
“There’s nothing worse for a police department than when an officer is shot and killed,” he said.
Details about the shooting have not been fully released. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division is investigating the shooting.
“Police aren’t any different from any other group of people, when one of your own gets killed it’s a tragedy,” Alpert said. “The difference is police officers put their lives on the line everyday.”
Jacob Hancher
Hancher died after a shooting near Yaupon Drive and 14th Avenue South Saturday night. SLED have said that police were responding to a domestic situation at the time of the shooting.
Hancher also served as a volunteer firefighter with Horry County Fire Rescue.
“There are no words to describe the depth of pain and mixed emotions that we all are feeling,” Myrtle Beach Mayor Brenda Bethune said in a statement. Some other politicians echoed that sentiment.
The Horry County Coroner’s Office identified the man involved in the shooting as John John Aycoth, of Myrtle Beach. He and Hancher were both killed in the exchange of gunfire. A second officer was shot in the knee and has since been treated and was released from a local hospital on Sunday. SLED is investigating the shooting.
“He cared about the people that he served, served with and absolutely loved Myrtle Beach,” Myrtle Beach Police Chief Amy Prock told reporters the day after his death.
Joseph John McGarry
On Dec. 29. 2002, officer Joseph John McGarry was shot in the face on as he questioned a man suspected in a previous homicide outside of a Dunkin’ Donuts on North Kings Highway at 12:30 a.m.
Officers waited for Luzenski Allen Cottrell to leave the doughnut shop before confronting him on the sidewalk outside. The group got into a small fight.
Cottrell pulled out a .45-caliber handgun and opened fire, fatally wounding the 28-year-old McGarry.
Cottrell was later convicted of McGarry’s murder — in addition to two unrelated killings — and sentenced to death.
McGarry had served four years with the Myrtle Beach Police Department and was working on the Street Crimes Unit the night he died. He had proposed to his girlfriend, Holly Newman Sinkway, on Christmas Eve morning just before the shooting. The two were engaged to be married.
A memorial for McGarry sits at the Ted C. Collins Law Enforcement Center.
Henry Howard Scarborough
The officer and U.S. Army veteran was killed during his first day on the job in 1949, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page.
Officer Henry Howard Scarborough arrested a man at a pool hall and took the man’s pistol away before he and his partner put the man in their patrol car.
On their way to jail, the man pulled out a second concealed gun and shot Scarborough in the head and the other officer four times. The other officer was able to jump out of the car and return fire, injuring the suspect. He was taken into custody and charged with Scarborough’s murder.
Scarborough was 47 and was survived by his wife, two sons, two daughters, three grandchildren, and two sisters.
This story was originally published October 6, 2020 at 3:00 PM.
