By Kenneth A. Gailliard
The Sun News
Conway police have charged a Loris man they say used a high-powered rifle to fire shots at a police officer on New Year’s Eve.
Johnathan Joseph Stephens was arrested Wednesday and charged with discharging a firearm into a dwelling and assault with intent to kill, according to arrest-warrant affidavits issued by Conway police. Stephens was being held Thursday at J. Reuben Long Detention Center in lieu of $250,000 bail.
Police waited until Wednesday to charge Stephens because he had been hospitalized at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston since the shooting, said Capt. Randal Graham of the Conway Police Department.
Conway police Sgt. Troy Wilkinson shot Stevens, Graham said, and is on administrative leave without pay pending investigations of the shooting by the Conway Police Department and the State Law Enforcement Division.
Just before midnight on New Year’s Eve, Wilkinson was on foot patrolling a section of the Darden Terrace community, where gunshots had been reported, Graham said.
While on patrol, Wilkinson heard shots coming from Altman Circle and went to investigate, according to affidavits.
Police said when Wilkinson was nearby, he saw Stephens holding a handgun and watched him run into 1143 Altman Circle. As the officer got closer to Altman Circle, Stephens came out of 1146-A Altman Circle, pointed a rifle in Wilkinson’s direction and fired several shots, according to an affidavit.
Several of the shots struck a nearby home on Altman Circle, the affidavits said.
Several neighbors said they heard gunshots and fireworks late Saturday but said gunshots were common in that community at New Year’s.
Myrtle Beach Sun News (http://www.myrtlebeachonline.com/)