Suspect captured after shooting Columbus County Deputy and initiating multiple-agency manhunt
COLUMBUS COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — The suspect accused of shooting a Columbus County sheriff’s deputy after a traffic stop Wednesday morning has been arrested following an all-day manhunt, according to the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office and North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.
William Robert Smith Jr., 48, was arrested on a charge of attempted first-degree murder and other charges. He is currently in custody and will be transported for medical treatment, authorities said.
The incident began around 8 a.m. Wednesday, when Columbus County Sheriff’s Deputy Joe Byrd attempted to stop a vehicle. The driver fled in the vehicle before getting out and running on foot.
Byrd later encountered the suspect, leading to an altercation. He was shot in the right arm, and the suspect fled again, according to authorities.
Byrd, a law enforcement veteran with 29 years of experience, was taken to Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center and is in stable condition.
Columbus County Sheriff Bill Rogers explained why the search took so long.
“There’s no cellphone service and in what we call the Green Swamp, there’s nothing but, there’s some houses here, but theres nothing but woods around,” Rogers said. “He’s from this area so he knows the woods, the hunting trails, the lanes, so I’m thinking that’s how he was avoiding us.”
A home believed to belong to Smith’s parents was just up the road from where the manhunt’s command center was set up.
We knocked on the door, but was told they were not giving any interviews at this time.
This was the second recent incident where a Columbus County Sheriff’s Deputy was either killed or injured.
Back in June, 33-year-old Deputy Damien Bost was killed when he was rear-ended by an 18-wheeler while protecting a work crew painting along US 74-76.
Rogers said he was worried when he first heard what had happened to Byrd.
“Its very difficult. In my 30-plus-year career, I’ve had two officers killed. One when I was a trooper and the one that got run over, then this one was shot. So the first thing this morning I could think, I started praying that he was going to be okay and then I went straight to the hospital to him, instead of coming here.”
Multiple local, state, and federal agencies assisted the Columbus County Sheriff’s Office and SBI during the manhunt, including the North Carolina Highway Patrol, FBI, U.S. Marshals, and sheriff’s offices from surrounding counties.
Smith is being held at the Columbus County Detention Center and is expected to be in court Thursday at 10 am at the Dempsey B. Herring Courthouse Annex.
