Authorities: 1 killed in officer shooting on college campus

SPARTANBURG, S.C. (AP) – A vehicle hit a campus police officer at a small, private school in South Carolina on Monday night, and he fired into the car, fatally shooting a person inside, authorities said.

The officer was investigating a possible vehicle break-in at Spartanburg Methodist College, officials said. When the officer arrived, two men ran off, but one was quickly captured, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division spokesman Thom Berry said.

The other tried to leave in the vehicle and struck the officer, who shot at the vehicle, Berry said.

The officer wasn’t seriously injured and was treated at the scene. A campus lockdown has been lifted, and classes will go on as normal Tuesday, according to the school.

The name of the officer and the name of the man killed weren’t immediately released. State police said in a news release that there is no dash cam or body camera video of the incident.

The officer feared for his life and defended himself by shooting into the vehicle, Lt. Kevin Bobo of the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office said. The number of shots fired and the direction in which they were fired has not been determined, he said.

Bobo said students were never in danger and there was never an active shooter at the school, a two-year school with about 800 students in the northern part of the state.