GREENVILLE COUNTY, S.C. (WSPA) – The Greenville County Sheriff’s Office said five deputies were justified in using deadly force against a wanted suspect in May.
The sheriff’s office shared a community briefing on Sunday regarding the May 29 officer-involved shooting which killed Johnny Andrew Collins.
According to the sheriff’s office, shortly after noon on May 29, the Greenville County Communications Center received an anonymous tip Collins, who was wanted on charges of attempted murder and kidnapping in Spartanburg County, had been spotted on Cannon Road near Greer.
After more than an hour of searching the area a group of deputies found Collins in a wooded area.
Body camera footage shared by the sheriff’s office shows deputies attempting to get Collins, who had barricaded himself in a patch of brush, to surrender to them.
Collins can be heard telling deputies to “shoot me then,” and later saying he would come out in exchange for a cigarette, which deputies agree to get for him.
When Collins comes out of the brush, he is seen holding a hatchet, which deputies told him to drop. When he raises the hatchet while walking towards them, the shooting occurred.
Deputies attempted to provide Collins with first aid, however he died at the scene.
In the briefing, Sheriff Hobart Lewis said the sheriff’s office also conducted an internal review of the shooting and determined their use of force was within the guidelines set by the department’s use of force policy.
The shooting remains under investigation by the State Law Enforcement Division and the 13th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, which will determine if any of the deputies violated state law by shooting Collins.
