Court hearing for accused Florence mass shooter postponed Fred Hopkins in court on April 22, 2019, after motions were filed requesting a mental health evaluation By WMBF News Staff | December 10, 2020 at 7:32 AM EST - Updated December 10 at 3:18 PM
FLORENCE, S.C. (WMBF) – A court hearing for the man accused in a deadly 2018 ambush shooting in Florence has been postponed.
According to a transportation order, Fred Hopkins was to be brought to the Newberry County Courthouse from the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center in Richland County, where he is being held for his own safety.
The hearing was scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m., however an apparent issue with the transportation order led to the postponement. Due to a gag order in the case, the nature of the hearing was not known.
this has been a very tragic and devastating time. reporter: police say the incident unfolded just after 4:00 p.m. wednesday, when the florence county sheriff s office was executing a search warrant on an adult accused of sexually assaulting a minor. that s when fred hopkins who, according to sources, was not the subject of the warrant, allegedly opened fire. suspect has a high-powered rifle and is firing at officers as we speak. reporter: the sheriff s office forced to bring in this bulletproof car to retrieve the wounded. situation not getting any better. please, please stay out of vintage place. reporter: ambulances rushing from the scene. the neighborhood locked down. his view of fire was several hundred yards, so he had an advantage. reporter: one of the bullets tragically killing a beloved 30-year veteran of the force, florence city police department sergeant terrence carraway. he was a giant of a man, but he was the proverbial gentle giant. reporter: police sa
to florence. the man suspected of shooting the officer is 37-year-old fred hopkins. hopkins is a disbarred lawyer and charged with disorderly conduct in 2014. this plain looking rock has propped open a door in michigan for 30 years. nice door stop. it is literally out of this world. a professor at central michigan was asked to check it out and found the rock was a meteorite worth $100,000. the sixth largest recorded find in michigan. the owner said it came to earth in the 1930s. the smithsonian is considering purchasing the meteorite for display. the los angeles dodgers first strike beating the braves in game one of the nlds.
expect in a barricaded subject shooting out because of those four children ranging in age from 10 to 17. they re apparently foster children. and the authorities knew that the kids were there because somebody had dialed 911. so the cops knew not to rush in with the guns and start shooting. but in the end, taken into custody was the alleged gunman. a man who s in his 70s. he s identified as fred hopkins. now, he was not the focus of the investigation. the search warrant was to look for information regarding what is believed to be his son, seth hopkins, whose age is 27 years old. so a lot of sorrow here and a lot of prayers for those officers, especially the two that are in critical condition, as this community tries to make heads or tails of what is a horrible tragedy, stephanie. kerry, thank you so much. we ll keep you updated on this story and the condition of those officers. we re going to leave it there.