LAKE VIEW, SC (WBTW) – Captain Cliff Arnette with the Dillon County Sheriff’s Office confirms SLED is investigating a deadly officer-involved shooting in the Lake View area.
Captain Arnette says the shooting happened just after 1 p.m. Wednesday on White Sands Drive in Lake View.
Weeks after the shooting, the incident report released on July 12 revealed that officials were originally called to serve a domestic violence warrant. When deputies were unable to locate the suspect at his home, they left, but were called back to the same home after the sheriff’s office received a call that he was in fact in the home and was threatening to harm himself.
When they returned, the deputy who made contact with the suspect ‘feared for his life and discharged his weapon,’ according to Captain Arnette.
No law enforcement officer was injured in the incident.
The Dillon County coroner identified the deceased as 40-year-old James Gerald Davis.
The body was sent to Charleston for an autopsy and results confirmed the victim died from gunshot wounds.
No information was released on how many gunshot wounds Davis sustained, or where he was shot.
“He was an easy-going guy,” said Davis’ neighbor, Jimmy Ray Martindell. “I can’t tell you what caused it to happen today.”
Martindell said the road they live on doesn’t have too many houses and is usually quiet.
“It’s very unusual that it happened right here in this area,” Martindell added. Martindell said Davis lived in the home where the shooting happened with his wife and kids.
Online records show Davis was convicted of second-degree assault and battery in January and was arrested in May for abuse / to inflict great bodily injury upon a child.
Warrants allege the assault and battery charge came from a December incident where Davis tried to run someone over with a vehicle. The child abuse charge came after a minor child was found with “severe lacerations and bruises” and the child told investigators Davis pointed a gun at the boy and threatened him with a knife, according to the other warrant.
Captain Arnette says the deputy involved in the shooting is on administrative leave with pay.
SC Law Enforcement Division spokesperson Kathryn Richardson confirms SLED is investigating the incident at the request of the Dillon County Sheriff’s Office. Richardson also says regional agents, as well as crime scene agents from SLED, responded to the scene.
