SC deputy shoots, kills suspect while serving warrants, sheriff’s office says

A York County Sheriff’s Office deputy is on leave after he shot and killed a suspect Sunday, authorities said.

Deputies say it happened at a home near Ellis Pond Drive, a little over 10 minutes east of downtown Rock Hill. The suspect was being served warrants for first-degree domestic violence and kidnapping, according to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.

Investigators said the suspect, later identified as 52-year-old Richard Zonjic, barricaded himself inside the home, so the county’s SWAT team was called in.

SLED said Zonjic was shot by a deputy with the sheriff’s office SWAT Team after a fight in which he was armed with a baseball bat. No deputies were injured but two were involved in the fight, the sheriff’s office later confirmed.

Deputies said Zonjic died at the hospital.

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Reporter Glenn Counts talked to a neighbor who saw the scene unfold.

“We saw SWAT coming in, and the police were basically moving their vehicles to allow the SWAT truck to pull in,” they said. “And maybe five or 10 minutes after, we literally saw them walking to the front door, and there was some type of communication out the back and two shots.”

SLED is taking over the case as requested by the York County Sheriff’s Office. The deputy who fired the shot, Sr. Deputy Daniel Barfield, has been placed on paid administrative leave as the investigation continues, the sheriff’s office said.

Barfield has been a deputy with the sheriff’s office for a year and has six more years of law enforcement experience with a previous agency.

No further information is expected to be released.

Sunday’s incident is the second officer-involved shooting in York County this year and the 13th in the state, SLED said. Last year, there were 43 officer-involved shootings in the Palmetto State but none in York County.

(WATCH: Suspect dead after shooting at deputies, 1 deputy hospitalized)