Media release provided by the Greenville county Sheriff's Office Thursday.
(GREENVILLE, SC) -A man is in custody and a Greenville County Sheriff’s Office K-9 is being treated for gunshot wounds following a standoff that occurred last night on Gunter Road in Greenville.
Forty-four year-old, Anthony Shay Hawthorne has been arrested for Attempted Murder, Possession of a Weapon during a Violent Crime and Cruelty to a Police Dog. The incident began just after 7:00pm when deputies responded to a call regarding gunshots. Once on scene, deputies learned that Hawthorne had shot at his mother at least one time before barricading himself inside his residence of 136 Gunter Road. Fortunately, the victim was not struck and managed to escape out of the residence without injuries. The motive for the shooting is still unknown.
For the next several hours a stand-off involving negotiators and less than lethal means of apprehension were utilized in the attempt to peacefully get Hawthorne in custody. During the stand-off K-9 Nikos was deployed to safely get the suspect in custody, however during the deployment the K-9 was struck by Hawthorne’s gunfire. Hawthorne was also dog bitten by the K-9. After roughly eight hours from the time of the call SWAT operators entered the residence and took Hawthorne into custody. Hawthorne was transported to the hospital for treatment of his dog bite injuries and will remain there until released to the Greenville County Detention Center.
Greenville County Sheriff’s Office K-9 Nikos (4 years-old) has been in service 3 years and is currently undergoing treatment at Upstate Vet Emergency + Specialty Care for his injuries, which are described as significant but he is expected to recover.
In regards to the K-9 Nikos and his status Sheriff Hobart Lewis stated, “The resiliency of Nikos in these early stages of this incident has been incredible and we are certainly pulling for him as he begins the process for recovery. I cannot say enough about Upstate Vet Emergency + Specialty Care and their professional staff. The treatment, care and urgency that they have displayed for our buddy Nikos, I truly cannot put into words but I am just thankful…thankful to have professionals in our community like them who work hand in hand with our first responders.