FLORENCE COUNTY, S.C. (WAND) – A police officer killed when a gunman opened fire on law enforcement had served in his department for decades.
A report from WMBF says investigators identified the victim as 52-year-old Terrence Carraway. Police say he died when law enforcement responded to serve a search warrant Wednesday and a man began shooting. Bullets hit him, six other officers and a 20-year-old man in the area. The station says that person’s condition his unknown.
Investigators say the suspect was holding children hostage in Vintage Place off Hoffmeyer Road in Florence. After shots rang out, backup came in a bulletproof car to rescue Carraway and the other injured officers. The station says three other Florence officers and three Florence County deputies were wounded, with more than one of them in serious condition Thursday.
Carraway had just earned a 30-year service pin for his time in the Florence Police Department. Police Chief Allen Heidler told WMBF the shooting marked “a very horrific day” for Florence police, adding that “we lost a good friend of mine”.
After the shooting and a two-hour standoff, law enforcement managed to arrest the suspect. Deputies from Horry County and Charleston County came to the scene to help.
Deputies asked people in Florence to stay away from the area of the shooting. They say locals should stay parent during the investigation.
Florence County Sheriff Kenney Boone wants the public to keep the families of the officers shot in their prayers and “lift them up”.
