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Authorities: South Carolina man fatally shot after firing on deputies during standoff

The word "shooting" written on a slate.
Nick Youngson
/
Alpha Stock Images
FILE

About a half-dozen deputies shot and killed a man who fired at them multiple times during a standoff at a South Carolina home Monday, authorities said.

The standoff started about 9 a.m. when a utility worker came to the man's property to do work and he forced her to leave at gunpoint, Richland County Sheriff's Department Deputy Chief Maria Yturria said.

The worker called 911 and two deputies were sent to the home in northeast Richland County near the Columbia Mall, Yturria said.

"He came out shooting at our deputies," Yturria said.

The man barricaded himself in the home, coming out several times with the gun in his hand. He refused to talk to deputies who tried to negotiate over the phone or a loudspeaker, deputies said.

About an hour after the standoff started, the man came out and fired at deputies. Five to six deputies shot back and the man was wounded and died at the hospital, Yturria said.

No deputies were injured.

The name of the man killed was not immediately released. Yturria said deputies have had to deal with him on calls that were "aggressive in nature" before. She did not provide details.

Unlike most law enforcement agencies in South Carolina who call on the state police, the Richland County Sheriff's Department investigates its own officer shooting and other use of force cases.