Standoff in Sangaree ends with man in custody

Berkeley County sheriff’s deputies say a man who barricaded himself inside his Sangaree subdivision home tonight and fired multiple gunshots is in custody.

The incident ended around 10 p.m., about three-and-a-half hours after deputies arrived at the home to check on the man after his wife told them he sent her a text threatening to kill himself.

As deputies approached the house at 227 Birmingham Drive, the man started firing from the front and rear of the home, Moon said. No one was hurt as deputies evacuated four neighboring homes that were in the line of fire.

Though the man fired at deputies several times, they did not return fire. Instead, they got him on the phone and began negotiating with him. He said several times that he would come out, but then changed his mind, Moon said.

Deputies rushed the house and used a stun gun to subdue the man, who was taken to a hospital.

Moon said the incident began shortly after 6:30 p.m. as a routine house check after a man threatened suicide. He said the man was in the house by himself with a couple of dogs. The lights were off.

Neighbors stood in the street and watched as SWAT members arrived and took their place around the house.

Annette Dickens, who lives diagonally opposite the man’s home, said she was inside her house on the computer when she heard what turned out to be gunshots.

“I didn’t pay it much attention,” she said.

But then her son Chad, who came upon the roadblock while returning home from the store, called her. “He called me and told me to look out the window,” she said.

Deputies later moved her down the street where she stood with other residents who flinched every time one of the man’s gunshots pierced the night air.

The man’s parents stood nearby quietly as they waited for some sign.