Armed Rock Hill man, shot by 2 officers in Thanksgiving standoff, may face charges

A Rock Hill man was shot by SWAT officers during an armed standoff on Thanksgiving Day.

The incident started at 4 p.m. Thursday.

Neighbors reported the man was standing on the porch of his Hutchinson Street house with a gun, according to a Rock Hill police statement.

When officers arrived at the scene, the man pointed the gun at them and ran inside, the statement says.

The statement says the man was a 30-year-old white man and had a mental health pick-up order. The identity of the man has not yet been released by police.

The Rock Hill SWAT team and negotiators responded at the scene, which the statement says “had turned into an armed and barricaded incident.”

SWAT team members were able to enter the house, where two officers fired shots striking the man, the statement says. Both officers have been placed on administrative duty.

The man was flown to Carolinas Medical Center, where he is undergoing treatment. According to Rock Hill police spokesperson Capt. Mark Bollinger, the man is in stable condition and expected to fully recover.

Bollinger said Rock Hill investigators are working on potential criminal charges against the man. There were no injuries to any Rock Hill officers on the scene, Bollinger said.

This is the 43rd officer-involved shooting in South Carolina in 2017, according to a SLED statement.

Katie Allen, who lives across the street from the man, said she didn’t know him well, but that he seemed very nice.

Allen said she was at her son’s house when she heard about the incident.

“The people next door called and said I couldn’t come home,” she said. “So I didn’t get home until after 9 o’clock and when I got home, the whole street was just full,” she said.

She said she had heard he was dealing with mental health issues before the incident. Allen said police had come by the man’s house at about 3 a.m. the previous day.

Bollinger said officers had been to his house several times in efforts to serve the mental health pick-up order, but that officers weren’t able to find him.

The State Law Enforcement Division is investigating the incident.

The SLED investigation will be submitted to prosecutors in the 16th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, the SLED statement says.

This story was originally published November 24, 2017 at 8:44 AM with the headline "Armed Rock Hill man, shot by 2 officers in Thanksgiving standoff, may face charges."