GAFFNEY, S.C. -- Police have released the identity of a man accused of kidnapping and shooting a Cherokee County deputy.

Sheriff Bill Blanton told FOX Carolina that 52-year-old Jerry Douglas Case, of Gastonia, N.C., is the man accused in the shooting.

Before his name was released, Blanton told FOX Carolina that Case had a lengthy criminal history, had previously been convicted of murder and had, at one point, been sentenced to death.

"There is no explanation for how someone with Mr. Case’s criminal history should ever be out of prison," Seventh Circuit Solicitor Trey Gowdy told FOX Carolina.

Gowdy added, "People ought to be outraged -- I am."

Authorities in Cherokee County said a sheriff's deputy was shot Saturday during a shootout with Case, who was then suspected in a kidnapping.

The Cherokee County Sheriff's Office said it received an alert at 5:30 a.m. that four people from Gaston County, N.C., had escaped their captor in Gaffney after the man left the vehicle they were traveling in and went into a Kangaroo Station at the corner of U.S. Highway 18 and Interstate 85.

The victims -- a father, his daughter and two small children -- managed to start the car and drive to Blacksburg, S.C., where they called police, FOX Carolina News reported.

The four victims told investigators that they had been held captive since Friday at about 5 p m.

Investigators said after the victims escaped, deputies arrived at the convenience store and immediately began tracking Case, who had fled into a wooded area.

After tracking for 30 minutes, authorities said the tracking team found Case in a thick swampy area near the store.

Authorities said Case fired at the search team several times, hitting one deputy in the leg. Blanton said deputies returned fire and Case was shot at least twice.

Case was airlifted to Spartanburg Regional Medical Center and underwent surgery Saturday afternoon, Blanton said. Case's condition on Monday was upgraded from serious to fair, a spokeswoman at Spartanburg Regional Hospital said.

Authorities said the deputy suffered only a minor scratch, was treated at the scene and did not require further medical attention.

Deputies from Gaston County are interviewing the victims and are expected to file kidnapping charges against Case.

Gowdy said he is ready to prosecute the kidnapping case, even though it originated in North Carolina. He said it continued into South Carolina and other crimes were committed in South Carolina.

“We will be happy to show North Carolina what a life in prison sentence means,” said Gowdy.

Gowdy told FOX Carolina’s Cody Alcorn that once Cherokee County investigators sign and serve warrants on Case, he will seek a life with no parole sentence due to Cases’s criminal background.

“He was convicted of murder in 1992 and he’s out of jail -- that’s outrageous,” Gowdy said.

Case is currently paroled under a scholastic and vocational parole program designed to help inmates acclimatize to society, despite his previous sentences.

“South Carolina has its own criminal justice problems and we need to solve them, but we don’t offer college-prep courses to convicted murderers and at least life means life,” said Gowdy.

Blanton spoke with FOX Carolina and explained that Case has a grisly record that includes a previous kidnapping conviction.

According to the Gaston Gazette, Case received the death sentence on March 29, 1986, for the stabbing death of Knoxville, Tenn., cab driver Franklin D. Gorlay.

The paper reported that case pleaded guilty to first-degree murder so his girlfriend and accomplice, Telina Clontz, would receive a lighter punishment. A new trial was ordered in November 1991 and the state Supreme Court eventually ruled in 1992 that Case could not barter his life, according to the Gaston Gazette.

Eventually, Case received a life sentence in August 1992 for second-degree murder, the paper reported.

Case is currently paroled under a scholastic and vocational parole program designed to help inmates acclimatize to society, despite his previous sentences.

"It’s just disgusting to know this guy should be in prison for several life terms but is out doing this," said Blanton.

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division has joined in the shooting investigation.

Authorities said Highway 18 is shut down as the investigation continues where the shootout took place.

Stay with FOX Carolina News for the latest developments in this story.