A reported suicide in Union County, South Carolina is tied to an ongoing S.C. State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) investigation into the alleged embezzlement of public funds, we’re told.
That investigation has revolved around an employee of the Union County county sheriff’s office, sources familiar with the situation tell us.
SLED agents and other law enforcement personnel responded on Tuesday afternoon to a home on Glendale Road in Union in response to a reported shooting related to this investigation, which reportedly reached a point of critical mass earlier in the afternoon.
“We have been requested to investigate a shooting incident on Glendale Road in Union,” SLED spokeswoman Kathryn Richardson told us.
As for the investigation that reportedly led to the shooting, Richardson would only tell us “we have an active investigation concerning allegations involving a Union County Sheriff’s employee.”
Late Tuesday, the Union County coroner’s office announced that it was “involved in a death investigation on Glendale Road in Union.”
“This is the home of a Union County employee,” the release added.
Union sheriff David H. Taylor is a Democrat who was first elected in 2008. He made the headlines two years ago when he was involved in a scandal involving sexually explicit messages allegedly sent to a woman he contacted during his office’s “War on Drugs.”
Taylor rebuked those allegations, referring to them as a political ploy intended to derail his 2016 reelection bid. Ultimately the allegations didn’t hurt Taylor. He won reelection with a whopping 64 percent of the vote in November 2016.
The sexting scandal was eventually settled out of court.
It’s not clear at this point what his “exposure” is related to this scandal, but we’re digging …
Developing …
UPDATE: Victim identified, named as a subject in the ongoing SLED investigation.
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