SLED Investigating Officer Involved Shooting in Cherokee County
Tuesday, Apr 15, 2025
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) is investigating an officer involved shooting that occurred on Saturday, April 12, 2025, in Cherokee County.
Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a domestic dispute at a building on Bridges Road in Blacksburg, SC. When deputies arrived outside of a home nearby the building, an armed man, Gregory Scott Byers, 58, pointed a shotgun at the deputies and deputies shot him. No law enforcement officers were injured during the incident. Byers was transported to the hospital for medical treatment and has been released.
SLED charged Byers with four counts of Pointing and Presenting a Firearm at a Person, Domestic Violence - First Degree, and Possession of Weapons during a Violent Crime.
The Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office requested that SLED investigate.
This is an ongoing investigation. As such, no other information about the case will be disclosed by SLED at this time.
SLED conducts law enforcement officer involved shooting (OIS) investigations at the request of the agency involved in the incident or the agency with jurisdiction. When requested to investigate an OIS, SLED’s goal is to conduct a thorough, independent criminal investigation as timely as is possible under the circumstances. SLED agents will conduct interviews with all potential witnesses in this matter. Further, SLED will collect all relevant evidence and will forensically test such evidence as needed. Information gathered in the SLED investigation of the incident will be summarized in a case file report to be submitted to prosecutors.
The incident in Cherokee County is the 13th officer involved shooting in South Carolina in 2025.
This is the 1st officer involved shooting for the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office this year.
In 2024, there were 45 officer involved shootings in South Carolina.
The Cherokee Sheriff’s Office had no officer involved shootings last year.
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For media inquiries, please email SLED’s Public Information Office: pio@sled.sc.gov.
