Deputies fatally shoot man who said to kill him

Published March 30, 2016

Two South Carolina sheriff's deputies fatally shot a man who pointed a rifle at them after yelling for them to kill him, authorities said.

Deputies were called to a reported disturbance at a home around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday and found a man in the front yard who appeared to be acting erratically, Greenville County Sheriff's Maj. Brad Stepp said in a statement.

The man went into the house and came back with a rifle, Stepp said.

"The suspect came out, talking to the deputies, screaming at the deputies, hollering, 'kill me, kill me, kill me,'" Sheriff Steve Loftis said at a news conference late Tuesday night.

The man refused deputies' repeated instructions to drop the gun, Loftis said. The officers fired when he pointed the rifle at them, the sheriff said.

There is no indication the man fired the rifle, Loftis said. The man died at the scene. No one else was hurt.

The deputies shot "and used the necessary force to eliminate the threat that was facing him," Loftis said.

The names of those involved haven't been released.

The State Law Enforcement Division is investigating. SLED spokesman Thom Berry said he's been told the man who was shot was white, as are the deputies involved.

This is the 11th officer-involved shooting in South Carolina this year, Berry said.

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