Two teens charged after shooting at Richland County deputies

COLUMBIA, S.C. — The Richland County Sheriff’s Department is releasing new details on a high-speed chase over the weekend involving two teens. Deputies say the teens fired several shots at deputies with high powered rifles.

It was on the corner of Winnsboro and Blythewood roads that authorities said a teen opened fire on a Richland County deputy. Those gunshots woke neighbors like Randy Wilson.

Around 2:30 a.m. Sunday morning, Wilson remembers seeing deputies outside his home after deputies tried to stop the two teens after they allegedly stole a vehicle in Rock Hill.

“We watched for a while, and there were cars back and forth and back and forth,” Wilson said.

“Eventually, one of the deputies came and rang the door and asked had we seen anything. Of course, we hadn’t. We were asleep when it started, but he said he wanted to check around the house, make sure some stray bullet didn’t hit somewhere,” Wilson added.

Investigators say the teens didn’t stop. In fact, they say they were firing shots back at the deputy driving behind them.

In a press conference Monday morning, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott was frustrated that the teens, who both have multiple convictions, were out on the streets.

“This is not the first time that they’ve been dealt with with the criminal justice system. These are two 15-year-olds, and I’m not going to call them kids,” Lott said. “They’re making grown up decisions. They’re doing grown up things and trying to take somebody’s life.”

Another deputy began firing back at the suspects as the teens drove, and was able to stop the car using stop sticks, but they took off running with their guns.

“The guns were not left in the car. They ran with these guns,” Lott said. “The canine came in, Jeffcoat’s canine tracked one of them that was in an unoccupied house that he broke into. Another canine tracked the second one, and found him also hiding in an out building. They were both arrested.”

The guns recovered were both rifles.

“We’re not gonna stop. We’re not gonna tolerate that. We’re gonna chase them. We’re gonna catch them,” Lott said. “They shoot at us, we’re gonna shoot at them. If they run and attack our canines, the dogs gonna bite them, that is a fact. This is a dangerous world out here that these deputies are facing every single day.”

Sheriff Lott says both suspects have criminal records and were on probation at the time of the incident.

Deputies said one teen is from Rock Hill, while the other is from Lexington. Right now, the sheriff is not disclosing how they knew each other or why they were in the area.

Both teens are charged with attempted murder. Neither deputy will be on administrative leave.