Earlier this week, police in South Carolina shot the man who called them to report an invasion at his mother's home.
NBC News reports that 26-year-old Bryan Heyward called 911 on Thursday morning in Hollywood, S.C. about armed suspects trying to break into his mother's house. When two deputies with the Charleston County Sheriff's Office arrived, they were told that shots had been fired and that the suspects had escaped through the home's rear. That's where the deputies spotted Heyward and mistook him for one of the suspects:
Then Heyward, 26, appeared in the back doorway, holding a .40-caliber handgun that he'd been using to protect himself, Cannon said. One deputy, Keith Tyner, told him to drop it.
Heyward did not immediately do so. The deputy fired twice, hitting Heyward in the neck with a single round, according to the sheriff's office.
It was not clear how much time elapsed between the warning and the shot.
According to NBC News, Heyward remained in the Medical University of South Carolina's intensive care unit as of yesterday. Heyward was reportedly unable to move his lower body or speak, but NBC News adds that he spoke to a investigator during the ride to the hospital:
A 20-minute recording of the conversation was played at Friday's meeting between police and community leaders.
The officer did it, but it was an accident, Heyward told the investigator, according to the recording, adding, I should have put the gun down, but I didn't.
Heyward also told police he had exchanged gunfire with two suspects who fled the home on bicycles, authorities said.
Thomas Zachary Brown, one of the actual suspects, was arrested hours after the shooting. The 22-year-old was charged with attempted murder and burglary. Meanwhile, Heyward's family is concerned about the fact that the responding deputies were wearing microphones, but that the audio footage had yet to be released.
[via NBC News]
