Police: Officer Shoots Gun Out Of Man's Hand

TRAVELERS REST, S.C. - WYFF 4.com

Travelers Rest police said that they responded to a report of a suicidal man Saturday, but then the man pointed the gun at officers, forcing one of them to take defensive action.

At about 11 p.m., three officers went to a home on Tubbs Mountain Road after receiving a call from the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch that a man there was threatening suicide.

Police said the man, later identified as Jeffrey Simpson, had called the national suicide hotline, who in turn contacted the sheriff’s office.

The officers quickly requested assistance from the sheriff’s office SWAT team. The police chief and captain both responded from home to the scene.

The police officers spoke with Simpson for more than an hour as Simpson held a gun to his head. The officers said Simpson repeatedly waved the gun around and pointed it directly at the officers, refusing repeated commands to put it down.

The officers said as Simpson extended his arm and pointed the gun at an officer, another officer fired, hitting the pistol.

Simpson was taken into custody. He was transported to Greenville Memorial Hospital for treatment of a small laceration on his hand.

He was charged with of pointing and presenting a firearm at a Person. Simpson is being held in the Greenville County Jail on $30,000 surety bond.

The State Law Enforcement Division is investigating the incident as an officer-involved shooting.

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