CALHOUN COUNTY, S.C. — Witnesses spoke with News19 on Thursday, less than 24 hours after a deputy shot and killed a suspect during a confrontation in Calhoun County.
According to the sheriff's office, deputies were called to a report of shots fired in the 1400 block of Burke Road, just outside of St. Matthews.
After deputies arrived on the scene, they spoke with a family member who said that his father, John "Hayden" Inabinet III, had opened fire at him when he attempted to come on the property to pick up some of his personal items.
Deputies then learned from other family members and witnesses that Inabinet had suggested that he was heavily armed and wouldn't surrender to law enforcement if they came on his property, threatening to shoot them instead.
One woman in the community, who was around when the incident occurred, said it began around 10 a.m. on Wednesday and went on into late afternoon.
"It was like a lot of police officers here - like three, four, five hours," said a friend of the suspect. "I just hate what took place because he was a really nice man."
Shortly after, the community member noticed more deputies arriving at the scene.
"It was just a lot of them. They had the binoculars and they had the drones rolling. So it was a lot," she added. "I'm talking about a lot. I know about eight or nine cars. They had two drones in the air."
Calhoun County Sheriff Thomas Summers personally made contact with the suspect, who he said in a statement he had known for many years, and urged him to surrender peacefully.
However, deputies said Inabinet allegedly threatened to shoot any deputy who approached him. Negotiations continued but ultimately failed and deputies obtained a warrant for his arrest on a charge of attempted murder.
The sheriff said he again made contact with Inabinet by phone and attempted to get him to surrender but was again unsuccessful.
K-9 units were ultimately called to the scene, and deputies found the suspect on the porch. The sheriff's office said he responded to deputies' approach by pointing a pistol at them.
"One deputy fired at Inabinet fatally wounding him," the sheriff's office said in its statement. "Deputies on scene rendered aid to Mr. Inabinet, and he was transported to Orangeburg Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead."
According to the sheriff's office, a search of the home ultimately uncovered several handguns and rifles positioned around the home and even in the crawl space below it.
The woman from that community said she was surprised this happened in her community and to someone she enjoyed interacting with frequently.
"It was a total shock being that it's on this end and there really don't be a lot going on in St. Matthew, period," she said. "It's just a sad situation being that you knew the guy."
The sheriff went on to say the deputy who fired at the suspect did say so as a last resort. The unidentified deputy has now been placed on administrative leave as standard protocol.
The State Law Enforcement Division continues to investigate the incident.
