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Slain York County Officer Honored

York County Sheriff's Department
First responders honor slain Sheriff's Deputy Mike Doty along I-77 South as vehicle carrying his body from Charlotte passes by

Flags are flying at half-staff in York County and other parts of South Carolina in memory of a York County law enforcement officer killed while trying to apprehend a domestic violence suspect this week.

Credit York County Sheriff's Department
Detective Mike Doty with the York County Sheriff's Department

Detective Mike Doty, a 12-year veteran with the York County Sheriff's Department, was shot in an ambush early Tuesday morning along with two other officers. Doty, 37 years old and single, died Wednesday night. He received an escort down I-77 South today from a hospital in Charlotte to York. Flags were held by police, sheriff deputies and other first responders and were flown from fire engines on a bridge overlooking the interstate as the vehicle carrying Doty's body passed by.

Doty was shot by 47-year-old Christian McCall who authorities say  assaulted a woman believed to be his wife. A K-9 unit and helicopter began the initial search for McCall, who fled on foot before law enforcement officers arrived at a home in York County. A couple of hours into the search, authorities say McCall shot K-9 officer Randy Clinton with the Sheriff's Department. He was taken to the hospital.

About 50 other officers, including SWAT teams from surrounding jurisdictions, joined the search after Clinton's shooting. A few hours later, McCall ambushed some of the officers.

In addition to Doty, officers Buddy Brown with the sheriff's department and Kyle Cummings with the York Police Department were shot in the ambush. Their wounds required surgery but were not life threatening. Sheriff officials say Cummings may be released from the hospital today. Brown will require additional surgery on Friday and Clinton is recovering from follow-up surgery he received earlier today. Both are said to be doing well, according to a Sheriff’s Department social media posting.

McCall was also shot during the shootout with police, but the extent of his injuries and present condition are unknown.

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division is investigating the shootings. Spokesman Thom Berry says McCall is still hospitalized and under guard at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte. He did not provide any specific details of the case.

"SLED continues to work the case with agents in York and Charlotte," Berry said. "No charges have been filed at this time. We will review the case with York County prosecutors to determine charges."

SLED officials say this week's shooting in York is the third officer-involved shooting incident in South Carolina this year. Last year there were 49 officer-involved shootings in the state with two involving York Sheriff's deputies. 

Gwendolyn is an award-winning journalist who has covered a broad range of stories on the local and national levels. Her experience includes producing on-air reports for National Public Radio and she worked full-time as a producer for NPR’s All Things Considered news program for five years. She worked for several years as an on-air contract reporter for CNN in Atlanta and worked in print as a reporter for the Baltimore Sun Media Group, The Washington Post and covered Congress and various federal agencies for the Daily Environment Report and Real Estate Finance Today. Glenn has won awards for her reports from the Maryland-DC-Delaware Press Association, SNA and the first-place radio award from the National Association of Black Journalists.