Easley: Man wielding hatchet shot and killed by police at Walmart after disturbance call

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division is investigating after law enforcement fatally shot a man wielding a hatchet at a Walmart in Easley Sunday night. According to Lt. Ashley Anderson, spokesperson for the Easley Police Department, officers responded to the Walmart at 115 Rolling Hills Circle at around 7:00 p.m. Sunday night after receiving a call about a suspect causing “a disturbance” inside the store.

Incident Details

“While responding, officers received additional information that the suspect was armed with a weapon. Once on the scene, officers located the suspect and attempted to de-escalate the situation. During the incident, at least one officer fired their duty weapon,” Anderson said in her release to the Greenville News.

The man killed during the incident was Shawn Elrod, 33, of Easley, according to the Pickens County Coroner’s Office. Elrod was pronounced dead on-scene. An update late Monday afternoon from SLED identified the weapon Elrod was holding as a hatchet.

Police Response

Monday evening, Anderson further clarified that part of the dispatch officers responded to was that Elrod was allegedly trying to steal ammunition from the store’s firearms department and making threats to harm others within the store.

Investigation

Anderson said the scene was “quickly secured” and SLED has taken over the investigation. Renee Wunderlich, spokesperson for SLED, confirmed the agency is investigating the incident.

Walmart Statement

A representative with the Walmart store where the incident occurred said the business did not have any comment on the event.

Statistics

According to SLED, the incident was the 14th “officer-involved” shooting in South Carolina in 2024. This is the first “officer-involved” shooting for the Easley Police Department this year, and the department did not have any last year. There were 43 such incidents in the state last year.