Cayce officers shot during traffic stop still hospitalized

Two Cayce police officers shot during a traffic stop Saturday remained hospitalized Sunday.

After saying about 1 p.m. that one of the officers was to be released Sunday, city spokeswoman Ashley Hunter said four hours later that the officer was not being released.

Hunter did not explain the change when asked by The State newspaper.

“We’ve just been informed that neither officer will be released today,” she said by email in response to a reporter’s request for an explanation. “Hopefully (Monday) they will get to return home to their families.”

The officers were each shot in the leg during a traffic stop and chase early Saturday, Hunter said. One officer had surgery on Saturday.

The city is not identifying either officer or the suspect at this time, Hunter said.

The man suspected of shooting the officers also remained in the hospital Sunday, according to Thom Berry, spokesman for the State Law Enforcement Division, which is investigating the officer-involved shooting.

“Our investigation into the incident is still very much underway,” Berry said, adding that no charges had been filed as of Sunday morning.

Chief Byron Snellgrove of the Cayce Department of Public Safety said in a post on the department’s Facebook page Saturday that the officers are doing well.

“[E]ven with a long recovery ahead of them, they are in good spirits,” Snellgrove wrote.

The officers pulled over a car around 12:35 a.m. for speeding as the vehicle traveled over the Blossom Street bridge into Columbia, officials have said.

The car stopped near Williams Street by the University of South Carolina baseball stadium. As officers approached the car, it suddenly accelerated, Hunter said.

When the officers caught up with the vehicle, the driver ran away but was caught, Hunter said. During the chase, the suspect fired multiple times at the officers with a handgun, Hunter said. Both officers were hit and returned fire.

There is video from the shooting, Berry said.

According to SLED’s data, this is the 22nd officer involved shooting in South Carolina this year, and the second in 2017 involving a Cayce officer.

A man was shot by Cayce officers in February when he answered their knock at the door with a gun in his hand, which he pointed at the officers. He was charged after being released from the hospital.

This story was originally published May 28, 2017 at 2:10 PM with the headline "Cayce officers shot during traffic stop still hospitalized."