Video shows South Carolina deputy shoot 16-year-old girl armed with a knife
Surrounded by deputies, the 16-year-old girl picked up a knife and moved toward them. One officer fired a Taser that apparently malfunctioned, and when the girl refused to put down the weapon, another deputy fired a gun.
Video released by the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office shows the nighttime standoff near a bridge on July 11. It started with a 911 call from the teen’s mother, police said. It ended with the girl shot in the road.
The teen survived the shooting and no officers were hurt, the sheriff’s office said.
In the 911 call, the girl’s mother says the teen threatened her with a knife and then left the house. Deputies caught up with the girl on a closed road.
During the standoff, the girl put down the knife as deputies tried to get her to surrender, according to police. But then she picked the knife up again.
Greenville County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Tim Brown said the teen “charged” at officers and they tried to shoot her with a Taser. The Taser didn’t work because of a “poor probe connection,” Brown said in a video released by the sheriff’s office.
The video shows the girl armed with a large knife as deputies order her to drop it. “I can tell you don’t want to do this. Drop the knife, please,” one officer said.
When she came toward officers again, one deputy fired a Taser and another fired a gun, hitting the girl with a bullet, Brown said. After the gunshot, the girl fell to the ground, screaming, the video shows.
The teen was taken to a hospital, the sheriff’s office said.
Police did not name the juvenile because of her age. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division is investigating the shooting, standard protocol for when officers shoot someone. The solicitor’s office and the sheriff’s office are also investigating the incident.
This story was originally published August 26, 2019 at 9:18 AM with the headline "Video shows South Carolina deputy shoot 16-year-old girl armed with a knife."
