From car’s sunroof he opened fire at deputies with AK-47-style weapon, SC cops say – By Noah Feit (thestate.com) / July 18 2018
This is the bullet fired by an AK-47. A weapon reported to be like an AK-47 was fired at police during a chase, Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright said. Rick Bowmer AP
It began as sheriff’s deputies tried to serve warrants on two people Wednesday. It turned into a car chase, a shootout where a suspect used an assault rifle from the sunroof of the car, and a brief standoff after one suspect broke into a woman’s home, wspa.com reported.
Nobody was killed in the shootout, and the only injury reported was that one of the suspects was shot in the leg, according to foxcarolina.com. Both Jurrell Keith Thompson and Jodi Lea Stapleton were arrested by Spartanburg County Sheriff’s deputies.
“It’s only by God’s hand that none of our officers got shot,” Sheriff Chuck Wright said, goupstate.com reported. “We don’t want to hurt anybody. But we’re not going to be fired at. We’re not going to be treated that way.”
The incident began around noon, when deputies went to serve warrants on Thompson and Stapleton, but they drove away and the deputies chased them, according to WYFF-4.com.
Stapleton was driving the car and Thompson suspect stood up through the sunroof and opened fire on law enforcement with what Wright called an “AK-47-style weapon,” hitting their patrol cars, foxcarolina.com reported.
Thompson continued to shoot as the chase ended near US-221, with deputies returning fire and hitting him in the leg, according to wspa.com.
Wright didn’t know how many deputies returned fire, but said it was at least three, WYFF-4.com reported.
“After the point of shots being fired, officers have to do whatever they have to do to survive,” Wright said, according to goupstate.com. “He didn’t just put the deputies in jeopardy, he put all the neighborhood and all the innocent people around in jeopardy.”
Thompson put a woman and her granddaughter in harm’s way when he kicked open their door, but was followed by deputies who arrested him, per foxcarolina.com.
Stapleton also tried to escape on foot, but was also arrested by sheriff’s deputies, who found her inside another home a block away, wspa.com reported.
The man was taken to an area hospital, according to WYFF-4.com. When he was released, he was immediately charged with three counts of attempted murder and first-degree burglary, and was served with five warrants for his arrest, according to jail records.
Four warrants were served on Stapleton, who was also charged with two felony accessory charges and taken to the Spartanburg County Detention Center, foxcarolina.com reported.
“I am thankful the bad guy didn’t die, and I am also thankful those officers had enough courage to keep approaching a guy who had an AK-47-style weapon and didn’t just fill him up with holes,” Wright said, per goupstate.com. “Those kind of things tend to turn out real bad one way or the other.”
South Carolina Law Enforcement Division is leading the investigation, according to WYFF-4.com.
https://www.thestate.com/news/local/crime/article215127140.html
Roger Ayscue, a 24-year veteran of the Army and a manager at Hyatt Guns in Charlotte explains the difference in military assault weapons and the rifles available to the public today. https://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/article84848177.html
By Mark Hames
