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Officers kill man in S. Carolina after he stabs police dog

Alan Cleaver
/
Flickr

Officers shot and killed a man who stabbed a police dog during a raid on a home in South Carolina, authorities said.

Spartanburg County deputies went to the home Thursday night to serve arrest warrants, investigators said.

Darius L.J. Holcomb, 39, threatened the officers with a knife and locked himself in a bedroom, Spartanburg County Sheriff Cpl. John Burgess said in a statement.

Holcomb did not come out for negotiators even after tear gas was deployed in the room, so officers broke down the door and sent the police dog in, Burgess said. Holcomb began stabbing the dog, and at least one deputy shot him. He died a short time later.

The dog is expected to survive, Burgess said.

The sheriff's statement said he did not have any information on the arrest warrants or whether Holcomb was the person wanted.

The State Law Enforcement Division is investigating the shooting.