Police: Chester man shot, killed by officers showed a gun, had fled from custody
The man fatally shot Saturday by Chester police showed a gun after running from police custody, officials said.
Ariane LaMont McCree, 28, was identified by Chester County Coroner Terry Tinker as the person who died in the incident. The shooting happened around 11:15 a.m. Saturday near the Walmart on the J.A. Cochran Bypass, officials said.
McCree died after two officers fired their weapons, said Eric Williams, Chester Police Department chief.
Two Chester police officers encountered McCree at the Walmart store and detained him for supspected shoplifting, Williams said.
“While in custody the suspect physically assaulted one of the officers,” Williams said. “During the foot pursuit, the suspect presented a firearm, resulting in two officers with the Chester Police Department discharging their firearms.”
The officers who fired their weapons are on administrative leave as the State Law Enforcement Division investigates, Williams said.
Williams said he asked SLED to do an independent investigation.
“We expect them (SLED) to do a thorough and full look into what happened,” Williams said.
Williams declined to release the names of the officers involved, citing the pending investigation. Deputies from the Chester County Sheriff’s Department also responded after the shooting, said Max Dorsey, Chester County Sheriff.
Dorsey first confirmed to The Herald Saturday that McCree was shot and killed by officers.
Tommy Crosby, SLED spokesman, said the investigation is ongoing. Crosby has not released additional details about the investigation or what witnesses told SLED agents.
SLED will submit findings to prosecutors with the 6th Circuit Solicitor’s Office and the S.C. Attorney General’s Office, officials said.
No officers were injured in the incident, Dorsey and Williams said.
No customers or Walmart associates were hurt, police said. The Walmart store was closed Saturday after the shooting, then reopened Sunday, officials said.
McCree had a 2017 conviction in Chester County for unlawful carrying of a pistol, according to South Carolina court records. He was a former Chester High School football player who played in college at Jackson State University in Mississippi, officials said.
Funeral arrangements for McCree have not been announced.
The shooting was the 44th officer involved shooting in South Carolina in 2019, Crosby said.
Chester County has not had a shooting involving an officer since February 2018 when a drug suspect was fatally shot by sheriff’s deputies and Chester city police. That 2018 shooting was ruled justified by the S.C. Attorney General’s Office.
Check back for updates on this developing story.
