DILLON, SC (WBTW) – A teenager who was shot by a South Carolina Department of Natural Resources officer in Dillon County tested positive for THC, a report from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division said.
News13 used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain SLED’s investigative report about the incident.
The two officers provided emergency medical care to Faulk after the shooting, the report also said. SLED investigators also reviewed the social media accounts of the suspect and the officer looking for evidence.
At least 10 people at the landing were questioned, according to the document. Many of the witnesses, including passengers in suspect’s truck, gave statements that reportedly back up the officers’ account of what happened.
News13 is working to obtain official records about the officer who fired the shot from the Criminal Justice Academy.
According to warrants previously obtained by News13, Marion Faulk, III, is charged with attempted murder, use of license plate other than for vehicle which issued, and driving without a license.
Warrants said that “on or about August 15, 2018,” Faulk was operating a 1997 Toyota T100 vehicle with a license plate that was registered to a 1996 Ford Ranger.
On August 15, officers were reportedly at the boat landing observing people possibly littering and underage drinking, the warrants also said. Faulk allegedly drove his vehicle at an officer and ignored officers “shouts to ‘stop,'” and was shot.
The officer “did draw his service weapon discharging one round through the passenger window striking Faulk in the arm and causing the vehicle to come to a stop,” the warrants add. Faulk also reportedly told an ER nurse “I was trying to run someone over and they shot me.”
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division previously announced on January 24 the shooting case had been closed.
The shooting happened around 6:45 p.m. on August 15 on River Access Road, just off of Highway 57 South in Dillon, according to Capt. Cliff Arnette, with the Dillon County Sheriff’s Office.
Thom Berry, with SLED, previously told News13 that SCDNR officials were conducting litter surveillance at a boat landing off Highway 57 South and there was a confrontation with a man in a vehicle prior to the shooting.
The driver was wounded in the shooting, but Berry said he was expected to be okay.
Mattie Tyndall spoke with News13 in August after the shooting and said a game warden with the Department of Natural Resources shot and injured her 17-year-old son.
“He went to leave and went to go around the truck. The man hollers ‘stop!’ Bam. And shoots my child,” she said. “My child stopped. The only reason the truck jerked is because he asked him ‘Man, please let me put it in park.’”
Tyndall also said the bullet grazed her son’s chest and struck him in the right arm. She said about three inches of bone had been replaced with metal plates.
