Deputy involved shooting ruled as justified

A deputy involved shooting in the Upstate last month that left a suspect injured has been ruled justified. As we previously reported, the Greenville County Sheriff's Office and Homeland Security agents were serving a warrant on a suspect near Woodlawn Memorial Park on May 13th.

Sheriff Hobart Lewis says the suspect, James Edgar Hopkins, would not comply, and a K-9 officer was deployed. Hopkins then used a knife to stab the dog multiple times.

Deputies then tried to use bean bag rounds and tasers to stop Hopkins. He then ran across the street to the parking lot of a bank, and Deputies followed. When Hopkins turned around and came toward deputies, he was still armed with a knife. Three different deputies then fired on Hopkins; he was injured and was transported to the hospital.

K-9 Officer Micky was injured in the incident and has been recovering since. Sheriff Lewis says the 3 deputies have been cleared, as their use of force was justifiable.