One officer with the West Columbia Police Department was shot, hospitalized then discharged after a shooting in Lexington County on Wednesday; another man remains hospitalized

“Officers with the West Columbia Police Department received a shots fired notification from an apartment building on North Brown Street in West Columbia, SC, on Wednesday evening," according to a June 11 release from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. “Officers responded to investigate, and two officers encountered an armed man who came out of an apartment. During the encounter, there was an exchange of gunfire between the man and the officers. One officer and the man were shot.”

SLED was requested to investigate by the West Columbia Police Department, per protocol.

“SLED conducts law enforcement officer involved shooting (OIS) investigations at the request of the agency involved in the incident or the agency with jurisdiction,” according to the release. “When requested to investigate an OIS, SLED’s goal is to conduct a thorough, independent criminal investigation as timely as is possible under the circumstances. SLED agents will conduct interviews with all potential witnesses in this matter. Further, SLED will collect all relevant evidence and will forensically test such evidence as needed. Information gathered in the SLED investigation of the incident will be summarized in a case file report to be submitted to prosecutors.”

This incident in Lexington County was the state’s 19th officer-involved shooting this year, according to the release. This is the first officer-involved shooting involving West Columbia Police Department officers in 2026; there were none involving the West Columbia Police Department in 2025. There were 45 in the whole state in 2025.