By Police1 Staff
FLORENCE, S.C. — Recently released body cam footage shows a South Carolina volunteer constable shooting at a driver who attempted to flee a traffic stop.
Volunteer Constable Christopher Bachochin shot as many as eight times as the driver, Brandon Fludd, hit a police cruiser and tried to flee the scene, CBS News reports. Footage of police shootings in South Carolina usually takes months or years to release, but Mayor Stephen Wukela asked the Florence PD to release the video, saying “the whole incident is troubled.”
On Saturday, Fludd was stopped because his car crossed the center line of the road, according to WBTW. After asking for his ID, police asked Fludd to exit his vehicle because they smelled marijuana.
Fludd argued with officers and put his car in reverse, which prompted Bachochin, who took a few steps back from the driver’s side of the car, to fire several shots.
“Yeah. That (obscenity) about ran me over,” Bachochin can be heard saying in the video.
Bachochin later said he was concerned that Fludd would hit one of the officers. Police searched Fludd’s vehicle and found no weapons.
The State Law Enforcement Division, which creates training requirements for full-time officers in South Carolina, said there’s never a reason to fire on a moving car if an officer can step out of the way. It says a moving car is a hard target to hit and that a wounded driver could lose control or bullets could strike others nearby.
Thom Berry, spokesman for the state LE agency, said constables receive a fifth of the training regular officers get and lack arresting powers unless working under the supervision of an LE agency.
Wukela said Bachochin was riding along with Florence officers to keep his certification up to date.
Fludd was released from the hospital two days after the incident. Fludd told ABC News that he was shot three times and that he fled because he “got nervous.”
“I shouldn’t have taken off, I should have listened, but I got nervous and scared,” Fludd said.
The SLED is investigating the incident. Florence County Solicitor Ed Clements said he would let the state attorney’s general officer to decide whether or not to charge Bachochin.