A Sumter police officer was involved in a shooting Saturday night, according to a spokesman for the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED).
The shooting occurred as Sumter police were pursuing a suspect in an armed robbery, according Thom Berry with SLED. Berry says the suspect was wounded.
Police say the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office responded to an armed robbery call outside a motel in the 4000 block of Broad Street around 8 p.m. Saturday, where the victim was able to describe an armed suspect and provide a license tag number to deputies. The victim told deputies the suspect armed with a black, semi-automatic handgun, investigators say. That information was passed along to the Sumter County Sheriff's Department and the Sumter Police Department, according to police.
Minutes later, Sumter police officers saw the suspect's vehicle at a business near Broad Street and Highland Avenue, according to investigators. Police say officers attempted to make contact with the suspect and then gave chase when the suspect failed to stop for blue lights and sirens.
The car chase which ended when the suspect crashed into a parked car in the 100 block of Highland Avenue, according to investigators. During a short foot chase that followed, the suspect was shot by a Sumter Police Department officer, officials say.
Police say the suspect was then transported by EMS to Palmetto Health Tuomey, where he was treated for a non-life threatening injuries and released. The suspect, identified as Christopher Jermaine Cummings, 35, of Sumter, was then transported to Sumter-Lee Regional Detention Center, according to officials.
Police say Cummings faces multiple charges including armed robbery, failure to stop for blue lights and Siren, violation of the Habitual Offender Act and driving under suspension.
Sumter Police Chief Russell Roark and Sumter County Sheriff Anthony Dennis say they have both requested that the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) investigate the incidents.