PAGELAND, S.C. — A Chesterfield County man is facing 29 criminal charges after an hours-long crime spree where he is accused of shooting at officers and barricading himself inside a home near Pageland, the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division announced on Tuesday.
Kenneth Bragg is facing charges including the attempted assault and attempted murder of multiple law enforcement officers.
Last Wednesday, the Chesterfield County Sheriff's Office received a 911 call indicating Bragg was threatening to shoot everyone at Stars Sports & Fitness, located at 1584 Highway 151 in Pageland, according to documents provided by SLED. The call was coming from someone who, according to the documents, had brought everyone back inside the gym and locked the doors to keep themselves safe from Bragg.
Bragg fired a handgun at Pageland Police Department officers, who were the first to arrive at the gym, according to the documents. Bragg then drove away.
Deputies with the Chesterfield County Sheriff's Office joined the search for Bragg and his vehicle. A short time later, Bragg's vehicle was located and Bragg is accused of engaging in an "exchange of gunfire" with the deputies, according to SLED. Bragg drove off again but this time with the deputies giving chase, according to the documents.
Bragg was able to barricade himself inside a home on Salebarn Lane. During that hours-long standoff, the documents allege Bragg fired at least 45 more shots. Some of those shots were fired toward the SLED helicopter, which was assisting in the investigation. Additional shots struck two law enforcement drones and two robots being controlled by investigators.
Bragg was eventually taken into custody early Thursday morning. The documents do not detail how and when Bragg was taken into custody.
SLED is conducting an investigation, including a review of the shooting involving law enforcement officers.
There have been 31 officer-involved shootings in South Carolina this year thus far, according to SLED. Last year, there were 43 statewide. This was the first such incident this year in Chesterfield County.