No charges filed after SLED investigates deadly officer-involved shooting in Spartanburg

SPARTANBURG, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announced that no charges will be filed after his office reviewed the officer-involved shooting that left Darius Holcomb dead earlier this year.

Officials said Holcomb was shot and killed on February 2, 2023, after he reportedly stabbed a K-9 as deputies tried to take him into custody. Following his death, Holcomb’s family held a press conference calling for more information about the situation.

According to officials, the situation began on January 27, 2023, when officers from the Spartanburg Police Department tried to serve an arrest warrant on Holcomb for his failure to appear for a sex offender registry violation court hearing that came from a prior kidnapping conviction. Officers said when they arrived at the house Holcomb lived in with his mother, he refused to come out, so officers left and charged him with resisting arrest.

Officers stated that they returned the next day after Holcomb allegedly assaulted someone. However, Holcomb again refused to come out of the house, so officers left and charged him with a second count of resisting arrest.

According to officers, they returned on February 2 with the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office to take Holcomb into custody. Holcomb’s mother allowed law enforcement into the house, where they found Holcombe standing in the living room holding a sharp object before he ran into a bedroom and barricaded the door. A negotiator from the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office tried to get Holcomb to surrender, but he reportedly told them that he would not come out and that he would kill officers if they came in. The negotiator added that when they asked Holcombe if he had any weapons, he slid a long silver barbecue fork under the door.

Officials said after Holcomb stopped talking to the negotiator and deputies failed to get tear gas into the room, law enforcement forced their way into the bedroom with a sledgehammer. Once inside the room, Holcomb allegedly tried to stab a K-9 with the barbecue fork, and deputies shot and killed him. The deputy who shot Holcomb later told investigators that he saw Holcomb moving toward him as he attacked the K-9, so he feared for his life and the lives of the other deputies.

The State Law Enforcement Division investigated the series of events and later gave their report to the Attorney General’s Office. The Attorney General’s Office said they won’t pursue charges for Holcomb’s death based on the circumstances.