By HEATHER RUPPE
A Walterboro man was shot to death on Sunday during an armed stand-off with local law enforcement officers.
William Jerry Crosby, 55, of Walterboro, died at Colleton Medical Center as a result of the shooting, according to Colleton County Coroner Richard Harvey. An autopsy to determine the exact cause of death was scheduled to occur on Wednesday, May 4th, said Harvey.
Officers with the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office and with the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) were called to an “officer involved shooting” at Crosby’s house on Sunday, May 1st.
According to SLED, Crosby was “armed” and was shot during an “encounter” with deputies from the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office. It is unclear why officers were first called to Crosby’s residence, which is located at 300 Perkins Path in Walterboro. Neither SLED nor the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office will release this information, citing an ongoing investigation as the reason to retail this information.
“Per standard procedure, SLED investigates all officer-involved incidents,” said Shalane Lowes, spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office.
According to Lowes, the officer who was involved in the shooting is Cpl. Jake Scott.
Scott is now on administrative leave with pay, pending the completion of the investigation. Lowes said this is standard procedure for officer-involved incidents. “Per standard procedure, Cpl. Scott’s body camera was activated during the incident,” she said. “Scott has 11 years of service in law enforcement.”
The sheriff’s office is not releasing any other details on the shooting, and is referring all questions about the investigation to SLED.
“The Colleton County Sheriff’s Office’s thoughts and prayers remain with all during this challenging time,” she said.
This is the 12th officer-involved shooting in South Carolina in 2022 and is the first officer-involved shooting by the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office this year. There were 40 of these officer-involved shootings in South Carolina in 2021. Colleton County had no officer-involved shootings last year, according to information released by SLED.
