RCSD: Man arrested after shooting at deputies Friday evening

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO)– The Richland County Sheriff’s Department held a press conference late Friday night, in reference to an incident that occurred earlier in the evening.

Officials say Richland County deputies were shot at by a man on a roof with a gun. Deputies responded to the call of a concerned neighbor in the Briarcliffe neighborhood in Elgin, just after 6:30 p.m. After talking with the man for nearly two hours, Sheriff Leon Lott says his deputies were shot at. They returned fire, but no one was hit. They ultimately shot tear gas at the man, who got off the roof and tried to run. Officials say he was tased, and that was his only injury.

He is now being evaluated at the hospital and will either be booked in jail on attempted murder charges or committed, as Sheriff Lott believes this may be a result of a mental health crisis, which factored into decisions made on the scene.

The surrounding homes had to be evacuated.