Hero Down: Berkeley County Detention Deputy Found Fatally Shot In School Parking Lot

Goose Creek, SC – Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) Detention Deputy John Staley died on May 25 after being shot in the parking lot of a charter school.

Investigators said the 31-year-old detention deputy was off-duty when he drove to the parking lot of the Mevers School of Excellence located on Henry E. Brown Jr. Boulevard at approximately midnight, WCIV reported.

Detention Deputy Staley was shot shortly after he exited his vehicle, according to police.

Berkeley County Chief Deputy Coroner Darnell Hartwell said a school employee discovered his body while arriving at work at approximately 6:40 a.m., The Post and Courier reported.

Hartwell confirmed that Detention Deputy Staley did not have any other injuries with the exception of his gunshot wounds.

Investigators located shell casings at the scene and said they believe Detention Deputy Staley’s death was a homicide, WCIV reported.

Mevers School of Excellence, which teaches students from kindergarten through eighth grade, was not open at the time the slain detention deputy’s body was found, according to The Post and Courier.

School officials immediately swapped to an e-learning day after becoming aware of the homicide investigation.

An autopsy will determine Detention Deputy Staley’s cause and manner of death, Hartwell told The Post and Courier.

No further details have been released.

“Outstanding young man,” one of Detention Deputy Staley’s coworkers wrote in a memorial tribute. “Though I didn’t know you for long it hits my heart at work and not seeing you is hard. May your soul [rest] in peace.”

Detention Deputy Staley will be laid to rest on June 4, according to his obituary.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office Detention Deputy John Staley, both blood and blue. Thank you for your service.

Rest easy, hero. We’ll hold the line from here.