DEPUTY SHOT DURING DRUG SEARCH

Lancaster Officer In Serious Condition

HEATH SPRINGS -- A Lancaster County sheriff's deputy was in a
Charlotte hospital Friday night after he was shot while trying to
execute a search warrant for drugs on a home. Stacy Roberts, 34, of
Lancaster was in serious condition at Carolinas Medical Center. A
three-year deputy in the patrol division of the Lancaster County
Sheriff's Department, Roberts was shot two or three times while he was
using a battering ram to get inside a South College Street home, said
sheriff's Lt. Christy Rogers.

Roberts was wearing a bulletproof vest, but one bullet hit the upper
right part of the vest and traveled into his body, lodging in one of
his lungs. Another bullet struck one of his fingers.

A third bullet may have been blocked by his vest, Rogers
said.

A 21-year-old Heath Springs man, Terrell Flood of 334 S. College St.,
was arrested at the home and charged with the shooting in the small
town in southern Lancaster County, about three miles north of the
Kershaw County border. Flood is facing charges of possession of crack
cocaine and assault and battery with intent to kill.

Another man, Lewis Rod-riguez Stevenson, 25, of 425 S. College St. was
arrested on a charge of distribution of crack cocaine and resisting
arrest. Authorities had the arrest warrant on the drug charges for
Stevenson prior to executing the search of his home.

Five other people who were at the home when the incident occurred were
taken into custody, Rogers said. They were not charged with any crimes
and were later released.

The incident occurred at 7:30 a.m. More than a dozen officers were at
the home, and Roberts was part of the "entry team," Rogers said.

Rogers said the officers first announced themselves as members of law
enforcement. When no one responded, Roberts began striking the front
door with a metal ram as several officers stood near him.

Three shots were then fired through the door, Rogers said. Friday
afternoon, shattered glass covered the front porch, and the door was
riddled with bullet holes.

A witness, 21-year-old Chris Wright, said he saw Roberts buckle over,
grab his chest and nearly fall backward off the concrete front porch.

"It scared the hell out of the whole neighborhood," said Wright, who
saw the incident from his apartment window across the street. "It was
like World War III out there."

Rogers described what happened next as courageous and brave. She said
the other deputies grabbed Roberts and pulled him behind a vehicle.
One of the officers shot a pit bull that attacked an officer as he ran
for cover, Rogers said.

Wright, however, claimed officers opened fire on the pit bull before
Roberts was shot and that the dog was only barking. He also said there
have been several recent armed robberies in the neighborhood and
speculated that Flood thought robbers had opened fire on him.

"They shot first," Wright said. "He probably thought they were
shooting at him in the house."

After the gunfire, the Special Weapons and Tactics team then entered
the home through a back door, Rogers said.

A man who lives in the home said he heard officers kicking in doors
and screaming. They were ordering people in the home to raise their
hands and lay down, said the man, who asked not to be identified.

Either three or four people were in the house at the time, and about
five people were hanging out in a small wooden shed behind the
dwelling, the man said.

Flood was taken into custody without further incident. A handgun was
recovered from the crime scene, Rogers said. The State Law Enforcement
Division was called in to investigate the officer-involved shooting.

The search warrant was the culmination of an investigation that began
several months ago into narcotics activity at the one-story home off
U.S. 521.

"We've had many complaints about the house," Rogers said, adding that
they were "specifically (about) crack cocaine."

Rogers said it was the first officer-involved shooting in the
jurisdiction of the sheriff's department in recent history, and the
first time Roberts has been seriously injured while on duty.

Roberts is married and has two children, Rogers said. He is a
well-liked officer who also teaches the Drug Awareness Resistance
Education, or DARE, program at area schools.

"I guess we have to consider ourselves fortunate that he wasn't hurt
worse than he was and that he's still with us," Rogers said.