A shootout erupted early Thursday between Richland County sheriff’s deputies and two teenagers who stole a truck and fired pistols at deputies, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott told reporters Thursday.
One of the teens and a police dog were injured, Lott said. Both are expected to survive.
Jeremy Taylor, 17, and an unnamed 14-year-old are accused of stealing a truck and then beginning a shootout with deputies after the truck was spotted and stopped in the area near Beltline Boulevard and Rosewood Drive.
A short chase occurred before the two teens got out of the truck, and both were carrying pistols, Lott said. The sheriff’s department says Taylor did not listen to commands from the deputies, so a sheriff department dog began to apprehend Taylor and Taylor opened fire.
No one was killed in the shooting between the teens and sheriff’s deputies. Lott said that the sheriff’s department returned fire after they had been shot at.
A police dog, Kobe, was shot but is expected to live, Lott said.
Taylor is in the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, Lott said. The Sheriff’s department has also arrested the 14-year-old suspect.
Taylor has been charged as an adult, and the charges include attempted murder.
“Same recipe for disaster when we have young people with guns,” Lott said.
The shootout occurred between 2 and 3 a.m., and the truck had been stolen around midnight.
Residents on social media reported a large law enforcement presence in the Rosewood area of Columbia overnight. At about 7 a.m., the sheriff’s department posted on social media that there was “a police presence in the Rosewood/South Kilbourne neighborhood.”
As of 11 a.m., the sheriff’s department had has not released any other details about the shooting, including or where it happened.
The sheriff’s department did not respond to questions about the shooting. Sheriff’s deputies at the scene declined to speak with The State.
But residents in the area provided some details.
Multiple residents reported hearing gunshots around 3 a.m.
One resident of Cavalier Court told The State that he was woken up by screaming in the early hours of the morning. The resident also said that he could hear someone running, followed by the sound of seven or eight gunshots. Afterwards, there was silence.
Another resident, who wasn’t home at the time of the shooting said that the Ring camera on his front porch activated at 3:03 a.m. when it recorded deputies putting up crime scene tape.
Later on Thursday morning, the northern side of the neighborhood was still taped off, as deputies could still be seen conducting an investigation behind a home that backs onto Valencia Park.
Deputies from the Crime Scene Unit were using a metal detector, searching the area around the home’s shed. Asked if there was a search for shell casings, a deputy said, “I’m looking for metal.”
In response to the early-morning shooting, the sheriff’s department said it would have to reschedule a previously planned news conference with the Building Better Communities.
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