Spartanburg man charged with murder in shooting death of deputy Austin Aldridge. What we know.

On Wednesday morning, Spartanburg County Coroner Rusty Clevenger said Deputy Austin Derek Aldridge, 25, died at 9:26 p.m. Tuesday from injuries sustained in a shooting that resulted from a response to a domestic call. 

Spartanburg Sheriff's Lt. Kevin Bobo said Aldridge, who had been with the Sheriff's Office for about three years, responded to the call at 3:20 p.m. on Chaffee Road in the Oak Forest subdivision. In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, Bobo said a deputy, identified Wednesday morning as Aldridge, was shot as he approached the residence on Chaffee Road.

At a press conference held later Tuesday night and shortly before the deputy was declared dead, Sheriff Chuck Wright said the suspect, 63-year-old Duane Heard, was shot twice by deputies and was expected to live.

Updates: Spartanburg County Coroner's Office: Deputy Austin Aldridge dies after shooting on Chaffee Rd.

Honoring Austin Aldridge: Social media tributes pour in for fallen Spartanburg County deputy

Heard, who is being supervised by law enforcement while receiving treatment at a local hospital, was charged Wednesday afternoon by South Carolina Law Enforcement Division with murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. SLED will be the prosecuting agency for all charges. Heard's condition has  not been released.

Lt. Bobo said there were three separate locations where gunfire occurred, outside the Chaffee Road residence being the first.

Here is the timeline as it is known right now. Check back for updates.

Wednesday, June 22, 2022, 12:19 p.m.

Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office's released an incident report from October 22, 2021, when Heard was arrested for resisting or interfering with a police officer, as well as the traffic offense of pedestrian in the roadway.

Deputies offered written reports of response to an incident where Heard impeded a Post Office delivery carrier, who was driving a mail truck on their route in the neighborhood where Heard lived. Heard's actions stemmed from an apparent issue of the Post Office not delivering his mail.

The mail carrier had a "Do Not Deliver" order for Heard's address, as he had been aggressive towards postal workers in the past, including an incident the previous week where Heard was removed from the West Blackstock Road Post Office for his behavior, allegedly threatening Post Office workers.

A neighbor who witnessed Heard impede the mail carrier gave a statement, saying he attempted to diffuse the situation, but Heard ignored him and would not let the driver finish their route, according to the report.

When deputy Welborn told Heard he was under arrest for pedestrian in the roadway, he resisted arrest despite multiple warnings, according to the report.

Heard has still not been publicly charged in the death of Aldridge.

Wednesday, June 22, 2022, 11:51 a.m.

South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the investigating agency, released a statement. The suspect's full name is 63-year-old Duane Leslie Heard.

SLED stated that the incident was the 17th officer-involved shooting in South Carolina in 2022, and the third officer involved shooting involving the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office this year.

SLED added that in 2021 there were 40 officer-involved shootings in South Carolina, two of which involved Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office.

The last law enforcement officer in the area to die in the line of duty was Spartanburg Police Department's Jason Gregory Harris, who died on April 13, 2017 in a motorcycle crash at the age of 39. The last law enforcement officer in the area to die as the result of gunfire was 39-year-old Deputy Sheriff Kevin Earl Carper.

Other than Carper's death, it had been almost a century since a member of the Sheriff's Office had died in the line of duty.

Wednesday, June 22, 2022, 7:08 a.m.

Spartanburg County Coroner Rusty Clevenger said Deputy Austin Derek Aldridge, 25, died the previous night from injuries sustained in the shooting.

Tuesday, June 21, 2022, 9:26 p.m.

Deputy Austin Derek Aldridge was declared dead.

Tuesday, June 21, 2022, 8:30 p.m.

Sheriff Chuck Wright held a press conference at the law enforcement memorial in front of the Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office where he addressed the incident and confirmed the name of the suspect.

Tuesday, June 21, 2022, later in the afternoon

Some deputies secured the scene for EMS treatment of Aldridge, while other officers engaged in a vehicular pursuit of Heard. Heard's vehicle was seen by a deputy traveling down Anderson Mill Rd towards Hwy. 290. This deputy attempted a traffic stop.

Bobo said Heard initially acted like he was going to surrender but then proceeded to fire at that deputy, who returned fire. Heard then continued down Anderson Mill Rd. until he wrecked near a business just before the Hwy. 290 intersection and fled into the woods after firing at other deputies.

None of the deputies at the second and third scenes were injured. A perimeter was established and SWAT and canine deputies located the suspect in the woods, where he was arrested, the Sheriff's press release stated.

Tuesday, June 21, 2022, 3:20 p.m.

Sheriff's deputy Austin Aldridge responded to a domestic call at Chaffee Road in the Oak Forest subdivision. Aldridge responded to the call alone.  Suspect, Duane Heard, fired at Aldridge.

Neighbor Jason Smith heard a gunshot. Upon seeing an officer's vehicle and what appeared to be a downed officer, Smith dialed 9-1-1 to report a shooting.

Smith said Heard unsuccessfully tried to get into the officer's vehicle. After this, Heard returned back inside, before reemerging and threatening another neighbor with his rifle.

Heard then got into his pickup truck and fled. Smith said he directed responding officers in the direction Heard had gone.

This is a developing story. Check back for more information. 

Chalmers Rogland, a Wofford College graduate, covers public safety and breaking news for the Herald-Journal. Reach him via email at crogland@shj.com. Find him on Twitter @CRogland. 

This article originally appeared on Herald-Journal: What we know about Spartanburg deputy Austin Aldridge's shooting death