Man was killed after hit by car and shot when leaving an SC courthouse, sheriff says

A South Carolina man was killed Monday as he left a courthouse, and another man involved in the same court hearing was charged with murder, according to the Laurens County Sheriff’s Office .

The Laurens County Coroner’s Office said 34-year-old Woodruff resident Erin Lee Thomas was the victim, according to a Tuesday news release from the sheriff’s office.

Stephen Andrew White, a 32-year-old Laurens resident, is being held at the Laurens County Detention Center, according to the release. No bond has been set , jail records show.

The sheriff’s office said that as the men left the Laurens County Courthouse at Hillcrest Square, White “ran his vehicle into” Thomas “and then proceeded to shoot him.” The shooting happened at about 3:15 p.m. in the courthouse’s parking lot, according to the sheriff’s office.

White was immediately taken into custody without incident, and courthouse staff quickly secured the scene as well as the courthouse, according to the release.

Thomas was airlifted from the courthouse and later died, the sheriff’s office said.

No other injuries were reported.

Information about the court hearing was not available, and there was no word on a motive for the shooting.

The sheriff’s office called the shooting an isolated incident, but said more information would not be released “to protect the integrity of this case.”