FLORENCE, SC (WBTW) – A solicitor says he’ll ask a judge to order a mental health evaluation for Frederick Hopkins.
Solicitor Ed Clements, with the 12th Circuit Solicitor’s Office, tells News13 he’s filing an order of transportation to bring Hopkins back to Florence County from Richland County to ask a judge to order a mental evaluation on Monday.
Clements is asking for the evaluation after Hopkins sent letters to a news outlet claiming he suffers from PTSD.
Hopkins, 74, is charged in connection to the October shooting of several law enforcement officers in Florence’s Vintage Place neighborhood.
Eight people were shot during the shooting on October 3, including seven law enforcement officers. Sgt. Terrence Carraway was killed in the shooting and Inv. Farrah Turner died on Oct. 22.
In January, News13 reported that a pre-filed bill in the South Carolina Senate, intended to change rules regarding the handling of officer-involved shootings across the state, was pushed through a Senate subcommittee, and would go to the full judiciary committee.