Shooting suspect pleads guilty

A bank robbery suspect pleaded guilty Tuesday to shooting a Charleston County sheriff's deputy who was trying to arrest him in connection with a heist in West Ashley.

Terrell Mallard, 30, opened fire after law enforcement officers tried to arrest him at his Tomoka Drive home on Feb. 26. Master Deputy Alan I. Ali, who was assigned to the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force, was wounded in the ankle.

Mallard, of Charleston, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to attempting to kill a federal officer, two counts of attempting to kill a person assisting a federal officer and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.

U.S. Attorney for South Carolina W. Walter Wilkins said Mallard entered into a plea deal in which he agreed to a sentence of 30 years in prison. Mallard was facing the possibility of life in prison and $2 million in fines.

U.S. District Judge Patrick Michael Duffy accepted the plea and will sentence Mallard at a later date. Mallard will remain in custody while awaiting sentencing.

Ali and North Charleston police officers James Roberts and Robert Burnem went to Mallard's home to arrest him in connection with a July 3, 2008, robbery at Wachovia bank on Rivers Avenue.

They found him in a locked bathroom and he refused to come out. When they breached the door, he started shooting, wounding Ali. Roberts and Burnem returned fire, wounding Mallard, authorities said.

Ali has since returned to duty, sheriff's Maj. John Clark said. Department officials withheld comment until receiving formal word of the plea, he said.