NEWBERRY COUNTY, S.C. — Authorities have identified the officer killed in a crash involving a tractor-trailer while responding to a call.
Newberry Police Chief Kevin Goodman said Lt. Michael Wood was the officer who died after a crash around 5:40 p.m. on Wednesday.
According to Corporal David Jones with the South Carolina Highway Patrol, a 2015 Ford Taurus belonging to the Newberry Police Department was heading south on SC-395, also known as Nance Street, and a 2022 Freightliner Tractor Trailer was heading east on SC-34, or Dixie Drive. The two collided at an intersection.
The crash sent Wood to Prisma Health Richland Hospital, where he died. The driver of the tractor-trailer was also taken to the hospital for his injuries, Jones said.
The South Carolina Highway Patrol's Multi-disciplinary Accident Investigation Team (MAIT) is investigating the crash. The Newberry County Coroner's Office has not publicly identified the victim.
In a separate statement, the City of Newberry said Wood was responding to a call for service when the crash happened. According to the city, Wood had been with the Newberry Police Department for 20 years, becoming a corporal in 2006, sergeant in 2008 and lieutenant in 2017.
Chief Goodman asked in the town's statement that the family of the victim and the community "be lifted in prayer."