SPARTANBURG, S.C. (WSPA) — No charges will be filed against a deputy who shot and killed Darius Holcomb in January, South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced on Wednesday.
A Spartanburg Police officer was trying to serve an arrest warrant on Holcomb for allegedly failing to appear for a sex offender registry violation hearing when he ran inside his home and refused to leave. The officer reportedly left the home and obtained a new warrant for Holcomb for resisting arrest.
The next day, officers responded to an alleged assault by Holcomb at the home and tried to serve the outstanding warrants. Holcomb again refused to leave the house and officers again left and obtained warrants for resisting arrest.
A few days later, Spartanburg police and the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office tried again to arrest Holcomb.
Deputies went to the home again at about 3 p.m. on Feb. 2 were allowed inside by Holcomb’s mother, Terria Holcomb.
When they went inside, they reportedly saw Holcomb standing in the living room holding a sharp object in his right hand. When he saw the deputies, he reportedly ran into a bedroom and barricaded the door.
Negotiators and SWAT teams were called to try and remove Holcomb from the home, but he refused to leave. He reportedly placed a mattress over a window, preventing police from entering the room he was in.
After SWAT used a sledgehammer to break into the bedroom, a police dog went into the room, followed by a deputy who claimed he saw Holcomb attempting to stab the dog with a carving fork and coming toward deputies.
The deputy then shot Holcomb, who was pronounced dead by EMS at the scene.
The shooting has been under investigation by the State Law Enforcement Division. Members of Holcomb’s family have said he suffered from mental health issues, which they said law enforcement officers on the scene had been made aware of, and they questioned whether the shooting was justified.
“We just want to get answers,: Holcomb’s sister a few days after the incident. “We want the video footage. We want to know why they had to use guns to take him down when they could’ve done anything, they could have used the taser they could’ve used mace.”
“I just want to know what happened,” Terria Holcomb said in July. The footage that y’all showed me, what y’all showed me was that my child was defending himself from a dog, with no weapon. And y’all shot my child five times, and as he lay on the ground, dying, the dog was still attacking him.”
