COLUMBIA, S.C. — A South Carolina State Trooper who was shot during a traffic stop this past weekend is improving, the highway patrol said Monday. Meanwhile, investigators are giving new details into what led up to the shooting and the suspect who was captured.
The South Carolina Highway Patrols gave an update on the condition of Lance Corporal B.A. Frazier, who was wounded Sunday morning in Bamberg County. According to the patrol, Frazier is making "significant progress' and is now in stable condition at the hospital. He is speaking with family and visitors.
The patrol said it's not clear how long he will need to remain at the hospital. Lance Corporal Frazier has been with Troop 7 since 2018 and serves in Post A which covers Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, and Hampton Counties.
A spokesperson for the highway patrol said the incident happened around 3:30 a.m. Sunday after Frazier pulled over a vehicle on U.S. Highway 78 in Bamberg County. The agency said the suspect was going 20 miles an hour over the speed limit at the time,
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), which is investigating, added new detail Monday in the case. SLED said once Frazier pulled over the suspect, identified as 37-year-old Derrick Gathers, a Bamberg County deputy joined in the stop. Agents said Gathers then opened fire, wounding Frazier on the right side of his face but the injury was said to be non life-threatening.
Both Frazier and the deputy then returned fire, SLED said, striking Gathers' vehicle as it drove away.
SLED said a second trooper, another Bamberg County deputy, and an officer with the Bamberg Police Department caught up with Gathers' vehicle and pursued it near Branchville in Orangeburg County. At that point, Gathers wrecked his car.
According to an Sgt. Jerome Felder with the Branchville Police Department the car crashed into the steps of a home and flipped over.
Both Gathers who was driving along with a female passenger had to be cut from the car.
Gathers was taken to MUSC hospital in Charleston for treatment. No word on the female passenger.
Gathers has since been discharged and taken to the Bamberg County Detention Center where he is charged with attempted murder, possession of a weapon during the commission of a violence crime, and failure to stop for blue lights.
The Department of Public Safety asked the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division to independently investigated the incident involving Frazier.