Deputy loses his job of 12 years after shooting at alligator

A Beaufort County Sheriff's deputy was fired Friday following an internal investigation into allegations he and his wife, a Bluffton Police officer,shot and possibly killed at least one alligator in a lagoon near their backyard in Okatie on July 6, officials said.

Sgt. Kevin Heany, who had worked at the Sheriff's Office for 12 years, has been on paid leave since July 8, Sheriff P.J. Tanner said Friday.

Heany's wife, Sgt. Kelly Heany of the Bluffton Police Department, faces a 30-day, unpaid suspension and a year on probation, Bluffton Police Chief David McAllister said Friday. The Bluffton department also conducted an internal investigation, he said.

The couple could not be reached for comment.

The S.C. Department of Natural Resources is conducting a criminal investigation into the incident. Officials are expected to release their findings next week, according to Lt. Robert McCullough of the DNR Law Enforcement division.

Possible misdemeanor charges include killing an alligator out of season, killing an alligator without a permit and harassing wildlife, McCullough said. No charges have been filed yet, he said.

Because the DNR investigation is ongoing, McCullough said he couldn't say who shot the alligators or whether the reptiles were killed. He said he didn't know exactly how many alligators were in the lagoon or how big they were. Tanner and McAllister also declined comment on those questions.

In shooting the alligators, the couple apparently was attempting to save a family of ducklings they had raised in a small children's pool in their Mill Creek backyard,McAllister said.

The couple had taken care of the ducklings, eventually releasing them into the lagoon near their property, McAllister said.

"This was an attempt to save the ducks," he said. "... Still, you cannot harass wildlife."

Kelly Heany, using her personal shotgun, shot at the lagoon's banks to scare the gators away from the ducklings, McAllister said, noting the incident occurred at night.

A neighbor called the Mill Creek property owners' association to complain about the gunfire, McAllister said. POA officials then called the Bluffton Police Department.

The couple did not have a DNR-issued permit for nuisance alligator removal, McAllister said. He said he didn't know how many rounds were fired by Kelly Heany, who has been a member of the Bluffton department for about two years. He declined to comment on Kevin Heany's involvement.

Tanner, who also declined to discuss Kevin Heany's specific role pending the results of DNR's investigation, called the incident "unfortunate" and said it was a "poor judgment call."

"His record was very good before," Tanner said. "He's gotten lots of letters of thanks. He's been a very, very good officer.

"Day-to-day, as a supervisor on patrol, he's made decisions many times on how to deal with gators and other wildlife issues," he said. "He's reached out to Critter Management and DNR in the past. Involving the situation at his home, he handled it differently."

Of Heany's termination, Tanner said, "We had no choice based on what we know he knows."