16 Days After Mass Shooting, 2 Deputies Released from Hospital to Cheering Crowd
It was Oct. 3, a Wednesday. Sheriff’s deputies had gathered at a home in South Carolina as they were looking for Seth Hopkins. Hopkins’ father, Frederick Hopkins, did not comply with the officers who were attempting to serve a search warrant.
Instead, he started shooting at them. It wasn’t just a few shots, and he didn’t hit just a few of the officers.
UPDATE: Florence County Sheriff’s Department: Officers were serving a warrant when the suspect began shooting, wounding three deputies. Then, four Florence police officers were shot while trying to respond to the initial gunfire. @JSCollinsAP reports: https://t.co/CruMF5djSE
— Meg Kinnard (@MegKinnardAP) October 4, 2018
After the standoff, which lasted for at least two hours, Hopkins was taken into custody. Investigators found 390 shell casings outside the home, and 39 inside.
A search of the home, where Hopkins had been holding children hostage, turned up 126 guns, according to WMBF. While police initially did not know what they were walking into, they quickly realized the seriousness of the situation — but not before seven were wounded or killed.
Four Florence officers and three deputies were shot. Terrence Carraway, who had been in the Air Force for 23 years and a cop for over 30, died as a result of the shooting.
Officer Brian Hart, Officer Scott Williamson, Officer Travis Scott, Sheriff’s Deputy Arie Davis, and Investigators Sarah Miller and Farrah Turner were all wounded.
“I didn’t know what to think at first … didn’t know what to think,” said Michael Davis, Deputy Davis’ father, “It was very scary. But when I got a call from her Captain he did say she got shot in the leg so don’t worry but you need to get to the hospital as soon as possible.”
“Scott is stronger every day,” reported Tara Hedges Jones, his sister-in-law, according to WMBF. “We are encouraged by his continued progress and hopeful that he is able to make a full recovery.”
But on Friday, both Deputy Arie Davis and Investigator Sarah Miller were released from the hospital to continue their recovery elsewhere. Miller was well enough to go home with family, and Davis was taken to a rehab facility.
They weren’t quietly ushered out: They received a hero’s welcome back to the outside world. Dozens of people gathered on all levels of the hospital to clap and cheer.
It’s a moment they won’t soon forget, and, hopefully, they’ll be able to draw on it during the grueling rehab they’re both facing.
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