Shaw AFB intruder made statements about sex trafficking, pointed weapon at officers: affidavits
Shaw #Shaw
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCBD) – A man who was shot after illegally entering Shaw Air Force Base on the day before Christmas Eve allegedly made comments about sex trafficking and pointed a weapon at officers during the incident, according to affidavits obtained by News 2.
Authorities said Angelo Jerome Brown, 54, approached the main gate at Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, South Carolina to await entry into the base. Brown, who is a retired Army veteran, had access to the base so long as he followed rules and regulations.
But an on-duty officer asked Brown to wait in a side lot to wait for a supervisor after he started making a “rapid utterance in an aggressive tone” and mentioned sex slave trafficking, kid sex slaves, and told the guard that he was “laced.”
Affidavits stated that Brown became irate and threatened to pull off while stating “I have a knife and BB gun in the car.” He eventually accelerated and drove through the gate before a barrier was activated.
Multiple officers from Shaw Air Force Base responded and stopped Brown’s vehicle less than a mile from the main gate. Documents revealed that Brown exited his vehicle, belligerently yelled at the officers, and at one point threw his key fob from the vehicle.
He later got back into his vehicle and backed up, striking an officer with the door. The impact caused the officer to fall but the officer was not injured, documents show. Brown then fled until the vehicle stopped when it was no longer in range of the key fob.
Brown again exited the vehicle and retrieved what authorities said appeared to be a rifle from the backseat.
“He disobeyed orders to drop the weapon and continued making statements about sex trafficking and girls,” affidavits said. He eventually pointed the alleged rifle at officers, who then fired at the man, injuring him, and he was taken into custody.
While attempting to render aid, Brown told officers that he did not want help and wanted to die. He also made a statement about officers needing to “get them girls from Columbia” and threatened to take one of the officer’s guns and shoot him with it.
The Columbia FBI Evidence Response Team located Brown’s rifle and determined that it was a black pellet gun which did not fit the definition of a working firearm. He also had a knife with an approximate 6 ½ inch blade. Inside his car was a rock-like substance believed to be consistent with cocaine base.
Brown had prior convictions in South Carolina which included failure to stop for blue light and siren in 2002.
After speaking with his sister, investigators said that Brown had asked for her gun several days prior to this incident, but she refused since he was prohibited from having a firearm.
Brown was taken to a hospital in Richland County before he was released and booked into the Lexington County Detention Center on charges including ‘assimilative crimes,’ second-degree assault and battery, assault on federal officers, entering military property, and possession of a dangerous weapon in a federal facility.
Kevin Wheeler, a spokesman with the FBI office in Columbia, called it an isolated incident and said there was no indication it was related to terrorism or any other violent extremism.
The FBI is investigating along with support from the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.
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