SC firefighter sent to prison for firing shots toward Clover police in 2024 standoff
A South Carolina firefighter, who prosecutors said was intoxicated when he fired shots toward police surrounding his house, apologized and admitted his crimes, despite claiming he couldn’t remember the shooting.
York County Judge Bill McKinnon sentenced William Dean Jefferis, 58, to eight years in prison Tuesday in criminal court after he pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree assault and battery from the July 5, 2024, shootings in Clover. No officers were hurt.
Jefferis had faced a maximum of 10 years after working out a plea agreement with prosecutors. McKinnon gave him eight years, saying Jefferis saved the officers from having to go through a trial and relive the incident again.
His lawyer, Melissa Rogers of the York County Public Defenders Office, asked for a five-year sentence, saying Jefferis never meant to hurt anyone.
Some of the shooting afterward was captured on police video, but the video was not played in court Tuesday. However, McKinnon had watched the video previously when he denied Jefferis bail after his arrest in 2024.
“You are firing long guns, I mean the range of those weapons is considerable for the neighborhood, even if you are not aiming specifically at the officers. Those bullets all have to go somewhere,” McKinnon told Jefferis. “What you did was just incredibly dangerous and reckless. I hope you understand that.”
The shooting and standoff
Police went to the house on Stanton Street at night after an argument between Jefferis and his wife, 16th Circuit Senior Solicitor Dan Porter told McKinnon. Jefferis was “heavily intoxicated” when he first talked to responding officers, had fired a shotgun in the air, and “made statements about harming officers should they come inside the residence,” Porter said.
Clover police cordoned off the area, and then gunshots started coming from the house, Porter said. Officers had to duck for cover, Porter said. Police did not return fire.
Officers evacuated neighbors because of the gunfire coming from the house, Porter said. After a four-hour standoff, where communication eventually ended with Jefferis, York County SWAT breached the house before 6 a.m. and found Jefferis “passed out and surrounded by firearms and alcohol,” Porter said.
The plea deal: Intent an issue
Jefferis initially faced attempted murder charges. Porter told McKinnon that prosecutors offered a plea agreement with a cap of 10 years to the lesser offenses of assault and battery because there would have been a jury question in a trial of whether Jefferis intended to put the officers in danger.
Two Clover officers were in court but did not speak.
Porter said the responding police officers worked to protect the public — and Jefferis himself — that night.
“It very well could have gone much worse for any number of people out there that night,” Porter said.
Jefferis apologizes
Jefferis was a Clover municipal worker at the time last summer and had no previous criminal record. Clover has around 8,000 residents and is located northwest of Rock Hill, and west of Lake Wylie and Charlotte.
The volunteer firefighter told McKinnon he saw the police video and admitted he was guilty, even if he did not remember what happened.
“I’d like the chance to apologize to the victims,” Jefferis said. “I have worked most of my life with law enforcement...It is real hard on me to know that I did this. I saw the video. I know what I did was wrong. I never meant to hurt anybody. I hope they find it in their hearts to forgive me.”
Rogers said Jefferis worked as a firefighter for over 20 years and that he felt remorse after the shooting.
“It’s not just the bad facts in this case, because you can’t hide from them,” Rogers told McKinnon. “He admits this was terrible, and the officers showed great compassion in the face of flawed danger that my client caused.... But the actions of one night does not negate a lifetime of care and compassion that my client has shown for his community.... I saw how much shame he carried from this incident.”
Jefferis had been in jail since his arrest. He gets credit for 271 days toward the eight-year sentence in the S.C. Department of Corrections.
The Herald was the only media organization in court Tuesday.
