‘Our biggest question today is how did Mr. Jackson die?’ Irmo police chief asks
Nearly four weeks following the death of a South Carolina man after he was taken into custody by the Irmo Police Department, Chief Bobby Dale held a news conference for the first time where he addressed the issue.
When he met with media Monday, Dale shared audio clips of the 911 call that got police involved and body camera footage of officers approaching Byron Jackson’s van before the June 22 altercation preceding his death. While Dale didn’t take any questions from reporters attending the news conference, he posed one of his own.
“Our biggest question today is how did Mr. Jackson die?” Dale asked before leaving a podium at the Irmo Town Hall. “The autopsy report is not ready, but we know he had no physical injuries. But that’s the biggest question that the family wants to know, that we all want to know.”
Jackson, a 45-year-old North Augusta resident, died June 25, days after being stunned by a Taser and handcuffed by the Irmo police officers in the early morning hours of June 22, The State previously reported.
Irmo police responded to a call about a possible altercation inside a vehicle around 2 a.m. in the New Friarsgate neighborhood. At Monday’s news conference, Dale shared clips of that call. The caller can be heard telling dispatch he could hear “screaming” and “fighting” coming from a van parked outside his house, although he couldn’t see if anyone besides the driver was inside.
“After the 911 call ended our officers arrived and approached Mr. Jackson’s van and asked to see hands,” Dale said Monday.
Rather than complying, Jackson drove away, according to the police chief. Based on the information from the 911 call the two responding officers thought there could be somebody else in Jackson’s vehicle and a pursuit started, Dale said.
Police say they engaged in a vehicle chase with Jackson, who was alone and driving a work utility van, until Jackson crashed into a pile of pallets behind a building in the 7800 block of Broad River Road.
Body cam footage shared by police shows the officers yelling commands to Jackson, ordering him to come out and surrender.
Jackson then reportedly attempted to run and gets into a physical struggle with one of the officers before they fell down a ravine, about 15-20 feet, Dale said. The footage played for media on Monday stopped before Jackson exited the vehicle and did not show a struggle.
One of the officers used his Taser on Jackson to get control of Jackson and put him in handcuffs, Dale said in a release shared at the news conference.
Lexington County Sheriff’s deputies then arrived and helped to pull Jackson out of the creek, Dale said in the release.
Afterwards, Jackson had difficulty breathing, and he was treated by EMS. Irmo police say they were notified three days later that Jackson had died in a local hospital, but no cause of death has been identified.
In a news release on June 27 — sent two days after the department was notified of Jackson’s death and five days after the altercation with officers — Irmo initially said he died in police custody, but the town later said Jackson had never been arrested and “was never physically in police custody,” but rather was “apprehended safely after the altercation,” a spokesperson said.
An incident report from the police department showed that Jackson was initially handcuffed behind his back, but that the handcuffs were later moved to the front when he began having difficulty breathing, and the handcuffs were then removed at the request of EMS when they arrived at the scene so first responders could perform CPR.
The report listed two charges against Jackson, resisting arrest and traffic offenses other than DUI. The two officers involved have been placed on administrative leave and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division is investigating.
On Monday, Dale identified the officers as Tyler Baker (who has been with Irmo police since April 2024) and John Parker (May 2023).
“I want to express my deepest condolences to the family and friends of Jackson,” Dale said in Monday’s release. “We will continue to cooperate fully with SLED’s investigation to ensure every question is answered and every action is reviewed.”
Dale said he would share what he could of the video with Jackson’s family, who retained attorney Bakari Sellers. Jackson’s family previously called for the release of video at a news conference last week.
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This story was originally published July 21, 2025 at 11:57 AM with the headline "‘Our biggest question today is how did Mr. Jackson die?’ Irmo police chief asks."
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