Man who kicked in apartment door was shot & killed, Richland County sheriff says

A man who violently forced his way inside a South Carolina apartment was shot and killed in a “justifiable homicide,” according to the Richland County Sheriff’s Department.

The deadly shooting happened Monday, the sheriff’s department said in a news release.

At about 10:30 p.m., deputies responded to a shooting in 8100 block of Bayfield Road, according to the release. That’s in a part of Columbia between Interstate 77 and S.C. 277.

At the apartment, deputies found a man who had been shot, the sheriff’s department said. EMS took the man to an area hospital where he died, according to the release.

The Richland County Coroner’s Office has not publicly identified the shooting victim.

Deputies detained the shooter and a witness at the apartment, and they said that the man kicked in the door of their apartment, forcing his way inside, according to the release. Information about why the man broke into the apartment was not available, and there was no word if he knew the occupants of the apartment prior to the incident.

Once the man was inside the apartment the shooter got a gun and opened fire on the intruder, both the gunman and witness told the sheriff’s department.

The shooter and witness spoke with investigators after the shooting, according to the release.

Investigators determined that there was sufficient physical evidence of forced entry and based on the physical evidence as well as interviews said that the shooting was considered a justifiable homicide, the sheriff’s department said. That determination has led the sheriff’s department to close the investigation.

This story was originally published October 22, 2025 at 7:52 AM.

Noah Feit

The State

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Noah Feit is a Real Time reporter with The State focused on breaking news, public safety and trending news. The award-winning journalist has worked for multiple newspapers since starting his career in 1999. Support my work with a digital subscription