Police kill man who shot them from motorbike

ANDERSON, SC (AP) – Police shot dead a man on a motorcycle who shot at officers as they tried to stop him on a South Carolina road, authorities said.

Robert Allen Maness, 39, crashed his motorcycle after being shot and died shortly after in hospital, the Anderson County coroner’s office said.

The two deputies in the patrol car attempting to stop Maness were not injured in the shooting around 11 p.m. Thursday, Anderson County Sheriff Chad McBride said.

McBride said it was like an ambush as Maness pulled out the gun without warning and while driving when MPs turned on their blue lights.

“It happened so fast. When they made contact with him, he practically pulled out a gun and started shooting at the patrol vehicle. By the grace of God my two deputies are alive, ”said the sheriff.

The patrol car has multiple bullet holes, McBride said.

“You shoot a gun at law enforcement, I think you can pretty much expect what’s going to happen,” McBride said.

The sheriff did not say why MPs were trying to stop the motorcycle.

It was the second fatal shootout by Anderson County MPs in two days. On Tuesday, an officer shot dead Jonathan Zachary Combs, 40, after he got out of a stolen car with a gun in a police chase and failed to follow instructions to drop the weapon, investigators said.

No officer was injured.

The state’s Law Enforcement Division is investigating the two shootings.