UPDATE: The Richland County Sheriff's Department now confirms that the suspect, in this case, is not in custody despite being confronted and ordered to disarm by deputies.
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Authorities say a woman who was disarmed after holding someone at knifepoint at a Richland County courthouse earlier in the month is actually still on the run.
According to a redacted report from the Richland County Sheriff's Department, the incident occurred just before 4 p.m. on Thursday on the fourth floor of the Richland County Judicial Center which is located at 1701 Main Street in Columbia.
The report suggested that deputies learned as soon as they arrived that someone in the courthouse main lobby located on the fourth floor had grabbed someone and that the person needed to be removed.
The deputy soon learned from someone else in the lobby that the suspect had a knife. The deputy didn't see the knife at first and asked the suspect if everything was OK.
While the redacting of the report makes her response somewhat unclear, she appeared to be awaiting something from the public defender's office.
The deputy returned with another deputy and also an officer. The report states that the second deputy was the one that noticed that the suspect did have a closed knife behind her back. That deputy then pointed a stun gun at her as the first deputy requested she give up the knife - to which she complied.
The report doesn't name the victim but suggests she was approached by the suspect in the hallway. The suspect is accused of coming up behind the victim and grabbing her while also keeping her from moving away.
A witness getting off the elevator was the first to notice that the suspect was also armed with a knife and holding it close to the victim's neck.
The report goes on to say that the suspect had clearly brought a weapon into the facility despite signs at all entrance points warning against this.
While the suspect's name was redacted in the report, her charges were not. She now faces a charge of felony aggravated assault with a "lethal cutting instrument."
The report also suggests she was using drugs, alcohol - or both - a the time.
The charges have since been upgraded to kidnapping, assault, and battery in the first degree, and carrying a concealed weapon in a posted area.
Those will, however, have to wait until she is actually in custody. News19 followed up with the sheriff's department on a later date and a spokesperson confirmed that investigators were still looking for the woman, identified Latasha Boyd.
The statement from the sheriff's department acknowledges the security breach and, in a follow-up email, the spokesperson confirmed that Boyd hasn't been arrested.
It's still not clear how the knife made it into the courthouse and the report provides no further details in that regard.
The sheriff's department did say in its statement that "security of the Richland County Courthouse is a joint effort between the Richland County Clerk of Court and the Sheriff's Department."
It goes on to say that the sheriff's department provides the "manpower" in this process, but added that the Clerk of Court is responsible for "all equipment and maintenance of the building."
The sheriff's department said that it will "continue to request security enhancements" to prevent future incidents.
