CHESTER COUNTY, S.C. — The deputy who approached a suspicious car occupied by an accused killer in Chester County, which led to a dangerous high-speed chase, got the final say during the fugitive’s capture.
Seven deputies on the D shift stood behind Chester County Sheriff Max Dorsey on Wednesday. Deputies working that shift went after suspected killer Tyler Terry and were shot at during a 30-mile chase that reached speeds of more than 100 mph.
[‘He had nowhere to go’: Accused killer captured in SC after weeklong manhunt]
“Most of their vehicles have damage from gunshots,” Dorsey said. “They’re all victims. They’re all victims of violent crime.”
Deputy Sydney Canipe was leading the pursuit on May 17.
She has been on patrol for two years after serving with the Detention Division. Canipe first spotted a suspicious silver SUV in a Bojangles parking lot.
The business was closed so she went to investigate, and that instinct eventually led to the capture of a murder suspect accused of killing four people in two states.
The SUV sped away, with Adrienne Simpson behind the wheel while Terry sat in the passenger seat.
A chase ensued and that was when shots were fired at Canipe’s patrol unit. One a round pierced her windshield.
Canipe was not hit, and the near miss did not stop her determination to continue the chase.
Her commander, Capt. Al Crawford, raced from Columbia to Chester. He told reporters he doesn’t even remember driving through Fairfield County to get there, and when he arrived, he didn’t have socks on.
Crawford spoke about the officers working the shift that night who were in harm’s way.
“You saw that hole in that car,” Crawford said. “That could’ve been the end of Sydney Canipe, but because she stayed in the fight, (Dep.) Branham stayed in the fight, and the rest of these guys stayed in the fight, (Terry is) in jail where he’s supposed to be.”
Terry and Simpson have been linked to two murders that happened on May 2 in South Carolina and two others that happened two days before the chase in St. Louis, Missouri.
Once Terry was caught, the sheriff said the right thing to do was to have Canipe make the official arrest and put the wanted man in handcuffs.
“It was a big thing because she started it. She finished it,” Dorsey said.
Channel 9 expected to speak with the deputies about their ordeal, but at the last minute, some of their lawyers asked them not to talk to reporters. The deputies went with the lawyers’ advice.
However, the sheriff and their captain spoke. The sheriff said it’s common for law enforcement in officer-involved shooting incidents to have legal representation.
(WATCH: Community relieved suspect is behind bars after intense manhunt)
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