Police arrest teen accused of shooting at Beaufort County deputies during call
Authorities have charged a Beaufort teenager with shooting at deputies during a domestic call early Tuesday morning, prompting an exchange of gunfire with police and a manhunt that ended in his arrest.
Andre Elijah Washington, 17, was charged Tuesday with attempted murder, aggravated breach of peace, first-degree burglary, trespassing and several firearm-related offenses, inmate records show. As is standard procedure, multiple deputies who fired shots during the incident were placed on adminstrative leave Tuesday pending an internal affairs review, according to Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Lt. Daniel Allen. He would not name the deputies or say how many had been placed on leave. No injuries were reported in the incident, the sheriff’s office previously said. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division is assisting Beaufort County deputies with the investigation, according to Allen.
SLED was one of a half-dozen other agencies — including the FBI and the S.C. Department of Natural Resources — whose officers responded to the scene in a quiet northern Beaufort County neighborhood.
An alleged burglary and a manhunt
Deputies responded to a reported disturbance shortly before 5 a.m. Tuesday at a home on Wildcat Lane, located off U.S. 21 (Trask Parkway) across from the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort.
Washington, who had allegedly tried breaking into the home, fired several shots at responding deputies before fleeing on foot, according to Allen.
Police launched a manhunt for Washington, Allen said, employing a helicopter and a team of bloodhounds. In the area, officers soon found the firearm that was believed to be used in the shooting, which was sent for forensic analysis.
After the suspect was spotted in the woods nearby, authorities “ran him straight into some other officers” who detained him, Allen added. Washington was unarmed at the time of his arrest.
Allen would not specify how many shots were fired during police’s exchange of gunfire with Washington, referencing the active investigation by the sheriff’s office and SLED.
