Seven police officers shot in stand-off

A police officer was killed and six of his colleagues were wounded when an elderly man started shooting at deputies attempting to serve a search warrant in South Carolina.

The man barricaded himself in his home with children and fired repeatedly in his upscale suburban neighbourhood in the city of Florence.

The sheriff’s armoured personnel carrier was brought in to recover the wounded during a twohour stand-off. The shooter finally released the children as he was taken into custody. The gunman has not been identified and the motive for the shooting remained unclear.