By Police1 Staff
GREENVILLE, S.C. — Further details have emerged on the gunman who shot an officer three times outside a police headquarters Monday after killing his stepfather earlier that night.
Police now believe 23-year-old Evan Casey Bennett also shot and killed security guards Bobby Wayne Wood and Richard Thomas Ellison at a vacant textile plant Friday morning, according to WYFF.
A witness told police Bennett killed his stepfather after being confronted about his believed involvement in the killing of the security guards. After donning a tactical vest, fingerless gloves and camo pants, Bennett reportedly shot his stepfather, Gregory Thomas Jones, twice in the face with a shotgun while saying, “The war is just beginning.”
Bennett then threatened to kill his brother, who was picked up and placed in protective custody by police shortly after the murder, according to the report.
The spree then moved over to the Greenville County Law Enforcement Center. It was there that Bennett shot an officer three times — once in the forearm and twice in the side. The officer had responded to the scene after Bennett shot at the windows of the locked building, Fox Carolina reported. The officer fired back once, but did not hit Bennett.
The officer has undergone surgery and remains unidentified.
Bennett shot himself in the head and died at the scene. He was seeking help for mental health problems and had been previously charged in 2011 for stalking, according to the report.
Sheriff Steve Loftis called the murders “senseless thrill killing” in a news conference. Police are still investigating the incidents.