South Carolina Officer Arrested After Shooting Suspect At End Of Pursuit

Georgetown, SC – A female Hemingway police officer was arrested on Wednesday in connection with an officer-involved shooting that occurred after a chase early on Sunday morning.

The incident began shortly before 1:30 a.m. on Feb. 6 in Williamsburg County when Hemingway Police Officer Cassandra Dollard tried to conduct a traffic stop on a vehicle driven by 46-year-old Robert “Junior” Langley, WTGS reported.

Officials have not released any details of what led up to the chase and eventual shooting, but attorneys for Langley’s family said that the driver had gone through a stop sign without stopping, The Post and Courier reported.

The Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office said that Officer Dollard pursued Langley from Williamsburg County into Georgetown County where he eventually crashed near Schoolhouse and Choppee Roads in the Pleasant Hill area.

At some point during the incident, the Officer Dollard shot Langley, The Post and Courier reported.

Authorities have not yet released any details surrounding the shooting.

He was transported to Tidelands Georgetown Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Activists immediately began calling for the arrest of the officer, WCIV reported.

“We have had close to five shootings of Black men in South Carolina since the first of the year and we want something done about it,” Racial Justice Network President Elder James Johnson said.

Members of his organization gathered to protest in Williamsburg County on Monday afternoon, WCIV reported.

“So what we want to do in police departments across the country is be proactive when the officer needs to know that that gun has to be pulled only if they’re in threat. Are they threatened? So, you know, we want to be able to do that,” Johnson said.

Bakari Sellers, an attorney for the Langley family, said that a traffic violation wasn’t an excuse for a police officer to shooting someone, The Post and Courier reported.

“No one expects this to come to their doorstep,” Sellers told reporters. “You read about George Floyd, you read about Briana Taylor, you read about Ahmaud Arbery, you read about Mike Brown, you read about Tamir Rice, and now you have to add to that list Robert Langley.”

Langley had 10 children and also had grandchildren, The Post and Courier reported.

South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) Spokesman Ryan Alphin said that Officer Dollar was arrested on Wednesday and charged with voluntary manslaughter, WCSC reported.

She has been booked into the Georgetown County Detention Center pending a bond hearing that has been scheduled for Thursday, according to 15th Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson.

The Hemingway Police Department has not made any statements regarding the incident.

SLED has taken the lead into the officer-involved shooting, as is protocol for the state, The Post and Courier reported.