State police investigation in Seneca

The state police have started their investigation of a police-involved shooting last night in Seneca.  In the meantime the man shot dead has, so far, been identified as  19-year old Zachary Hammond of Seneca.  Coroner Karl Addis said his name is to be released today.  The police have yet to identify the officer involved.  At the time, Addis said, a drug investigation was in progress.  The coroner gave this account of what happened at 8:20 in the parking lot of Hardee’s Restaurant:  “The preliminary investigation indicates the deceased was attempting to evade a police stop in the Hardee’s parking lot; the officer felt threatened by the deceased who was driving his car toward the officer attempting to make the stop; the officer fired his weapon twice striking the deceased in the upper body.”  An autopsy will take place.  Thom Berry, spokesman for the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, says state crime scene investigators spent the night in Seneca processing the scene.  A typical investigation of this type, according to Berry, involves the state police interviews “with everyone who was involved in the incident.”  “SLED” will see to determine whether anything criminal was involved in the fatal shooting.