The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division opened an investigation into a former Horry County deputy chief related to his conduct in the investigation of a deadly road rage shooting in 2023, SLED confirmed Thursday, March 13.
Brandon Strickland, former Horry County Police Department deputy chief of the operations bureau, is under investigation over misconduct allegations, SLED said.
Strickland resigned March 11, an HCPD spokesperson confirmed.聽He had been with the department since late 2005.
The Criminal Justice Academy received separation papers from HCPD on March 26. Strickland voluntarily separated from the department after he was told about an internal affairs investigation regarding policy violations, according to the document, which states there is a pending criminal investigation but no charges are currently pending.
Allegations against Strickland are in connection with a deadly road rage shooting involving a North Myrtle Beach business owner in September 2023 on Camp Swamp Road. Scott Spivey, of Tabor City, North Carolina, died in the shooting.
Weldon Boyd, who owns Buoys on the Boulevard, and Kenneth Williams shot and killed Spivey, authorities said.
SLED said it is not reopening the investigation into Spivey's death at this time.
鈥淪LED鈥檚 new investigation involving former Deputy Chief Strickland is regarding his conduct as it pertains to the investigation involving the death of Mr. Spivey,鈥 SLED said in a statement.
The case was turned over to SLED in 2023.聽The Fifteenth Circuit Solicitor鈥檚 Office turned the case over to the South Carolina Attorney General鈥檚 Office, and the agency announced months later that it would not prosecute the case due to lack of evidence. No charges were ever filed.
This week, HCPD Chief Kris Leonhardt said after hearing questions about the case from the community, the department requested SLED and the FBI review the case.
鈥淲e take the concerns of our community members seriously,鈥 Leonhardt said during a press conference Wednesday.
Leonhardt would not go into details about the case.
鈥淪ince I met you all, my biggest thing has been transparency with our community,鈥 he said. 鈥淪o I wanted a full review and that is why I requested it based upon the information we have, which I can't share at this moment because it is under investigation.鈥
Leonhardt separately requested SLED to review the investigation on Monday and requested the FBI on Wednesday.
If charges are brought, Leonhardt said SLED or the FBI would be the charging agency.
He would not confirm if the SLED or FBI investigation involved any police department officers.
An FBI spokesperson confirmed that a request was made to review the incident, but the agency could not provide any details.
The September 2023 shooting happened on Camp Swamp Road near Longs, killing 33-year-old Spivey.
The shooting appeared to be 鈥渁n isolated incident,鈥澛爐he coroner's office reported at the time, and was being investigated by Horry County Police Department immediately after.
An Horry County police report states an officer was dispatched about 6:04 p.m. Sept. 9, 2023, after reports of 鈥渟hots fired with both parties on scene鈥 at the intersection of Camp Swamp Road and Highway 9 in the Longs area.
The driver of a white Dodge truck said a man in a black Chevrolet truck jumped out and started shooting toward his vehicle, a police report states. The driver told police he shot back and thought the man in the black truck was dead, the report states.
The driver of the white truck and a passenger gave their guns to police at the scene.
Police said the driver's door was open on the black truck, and Spivey showed no signs of life. The report states police discovered a black handgun with the slide locked under his hand.
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