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The deceased officer, 29-year-old Christopher DeLong, had been
with the police department for two years and leaves behind a
wife and two young children, Holbrook said.
“Our hearts are broken this evening,” he said, appearing choked
up at times.
DeLong’s wife, in a social media post, praised her husband as
the “best dad to our babies” and said she was “living a
nightmare.”
After a Saturday night news conference, Holbrook and other law
enforcement officials joined in a procession from the hospital.
The second officer, David Dymock, was in stable condition, the
chief said.
“I hope that our officers know that they’re not alone in this.
We will lean on each other in this tragic time,” Holbrook said.
“Let’s pray for this department.”
The shooting unfolded after a woman called police around 9:30
a.m. Saturday saying a man who she had a restraining order
against was destroying property at her home.
DeLong quickly arrived on scene and learned the suspect had left
the residence. The woman gave DeLong a description of the
suspect and vehicle description, the chief said.
Around 10:30 a.m. DeLong left the home, but just minutes later
he initiated a call about a suspicious person after seeing a man
near a vehicle that matched the woman’s description, Holbrook
said.
Dymock arrived as backup and minutes later radioed that officers
“were hit and a suspect was down,” the chief said.
The suspect was Adam Tyler Dowdy, a man with a history of
arrests across at least four states who had faced charges
including disorderly conduct, contempt of court, public
intoxication, possession of a controlled substance and probation
violations, the chief said.
Holbrook, who did not take questions at the news conference,
said the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division would
investigate the shooting. A spokesperson for that agency said in
an email that the investigation was ongoing.
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