RICHLAND COUNTY, S.C. — Sheriff Leon Lott says a 17-year-old suspect is in the hospital after he fired at deputies and struck a law enforcement K-9 on Thursday morning.
According to Lott, deputies were initially called to the 500 block of Deerwood Street near Rosewood Drive and South Beltline Boulevard around midnight to reports of a stolen truck that had a pistol in it. Lott said two K-9 officers noticed the vehicle a couple of hours later, and a short chase followed. He said it ended with the suspects getting out of the vehicle and one of them, a 17-year-old, opening fire on deputies and shooting K-9 Kobe multiple times. Sheriff Lott said the K-9 was undergoing surgery and expected to survive.
The sheriff's department said deputies returned fire and shot the suspect, later identified as 17-year-old Jeremy Taylor. He is in the hospital with wounds the sheriff said he didn't believe were life-threatening. He faces charges of attempted murder, unlawful injury of a police dog, failure to stop for blue lights, grand larceny of a motor vehicle and multiple unspecified weapons charges.
The other suspect, who is 14 years old, was also caught and charged with grand larceny of a motor vehicle and multiple unspecified weapons charges.
During a press conference on Thursday, Sheriff Lott urged drivers to lock their vehicles and never leave a gun in them. He shared a video that he said showed one of the suspects checking vehicle doors to find one that wasn't locked.