Deputy kills S.C. gunman, police say

GREENVILLE, S.C. — A police call that began with a complaint about a possible poisoning ended with a sheriff’s deputy fatally shooting a man in South Carolina early Sunday, authorities said.

A statement from the Greenville County sheriff’s office said a man called 911 about 1:30 a.m. Sunday claiming he was being poisoned. Deputies arriving at a home heard a man inside claiming to have a gun and then a gunshot.

A man came outside and began shooting and pointing the gun at officers, the statement said. At least one deputy returned fire, killing a man identified by the coroner as Willie Jermaine Robinson, 34, of Greenville.

Deputies later found a woman inside the house who had been shot by the man, authorities said. The woman’s injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.

The sheriff’s office did not identify the officers involved in the shooting, but a department spokesman told The Greenville News that “several deputies” who responded to the incident had been placed on administrative leave while state law enforcement investigates.

An autopsy will be conducted on Robinson today, the coroner’s office said.

The shooting was the seventh involving an officer in South Carolina this year and the second involving a deputy from Greenville County, according to the State Law Enforcement Division.