‘I thought I was going to die’: Neighbor recounts moments during deadly officer-involved shooting in Florence

FLORENCE, S.C. (WBTW) — The neighbor of the man killed in a standoff Monday with Florence authorities said everyone was evacuated from her building at Sage Point Apartments — except her and her 6-month-old daughter.

She doesn’t understand why.

“Once they realized that me and my baby [were] still in the apartment, I feel like they should have done something, because they saw me in my room window,” Janecka King said.

Matthew Paul Barry, 41, died in the officer-involved shooting. Authorities said they were serving a warrant for Barry when he opened fire. He was wanted in connection with a homicide that happened Sunday.

King said she woke up to loud voices asking the suspect to surrender. She said authorities told her they knocked on her door. She said before she could do something to help herself, she heard gunshots.

“I thought I was going to die, so I hurried to the window because I didn’t know where the gunshots were coming from,” King said. She said she told authorities to stop shooting because they were shooting at her.

King says a police chaplain offered emotional support to her and her family. She has not heard from any other official since that day.

News13 began reaching out to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division on Monday. As of this writing, we have not heard back.

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Tomika Jackson joined News13 in April 2024 as a multimedia journalist. She started her journalism career in 2000 with previous stops at WALB TV10, CBS47 & WTOC11 in Savannah, Georgia. Tomika is a Georgia native and Valdosta State University graduate. Follow Tomika on X, formerly Twitter , and Instagram . You can read more of her work here .

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