The S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) is keeping silent on details of a shooting Oct. 19 in Ridgeway that took place during a joint drug operation and involved a deputy from the Kershaw County Sheriff’s Office.
According to the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office, their narcotics division was conducting a joint drug operation with SLED and the Chester and Kershaw county sheriff’s offices in the 2700 block of Mood Harrison Road in Ridgeway at 7:30 a.m. During the execution of a search warrant, a deputy from Kershaw County was forced to discharge his weapon. The deputy was not injured, but a male subject in the home at the time was transported to Richland Memorial Hospital with unspecified injuries.
SLED said the matter was an “ongoing investigation” and refused to release the name of the shooting victim, referring all questions in the investigation of the deputy to the Kershaw Sheriff’s Office. Likewise, Kershaw would not release the name of the deputy or the shooting victim.
“That’s ridiculous,” said Bill Rogers, Executive Director of the S.C. Press Association. “There’s no exemption under the FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) for an ‘ongoing investigation.’ And how does the name of the shooting victim in any way impact the investigation?”
Two subjects were arrested during the operation, the Fairfield County Sheriff’s Office said, with more arrests expected. Tony Wright and Chaka Kahn Robertson were arrested Friday morning during the raid.
