Officer charged in fatal shooting of man accused of running stop sign before high-speed chase

A South Carolina police officer was charged with voluntary manslaughter after she allegedly shot and killed an unarmed man at the conclusion of a high-speed chase.

Hemingway Police Officer Cassandra Dollard turned herself in to the Georgetown County Detention Center on Wednesday for allegedly killing 46-year-old Robert Langley on Feb. 6, according to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.

The judge set a $150,000 bond for Dollard, 52, on Thursday during a court hearing, and was released two hours afterward, The Associated Press reported.

According to police documents, Langley disregarded a stop sign at around 1:30 a.m. on Sunday. When Dollard attempted to pull him over, Langley took off, leading the officer on a pursuit into Georgetown County.  

Langley eventually crashed into a ditch but when he attempted to exit the vehicle, Dollard, who said she feared for her safety, shot him in the chest. He later died at the hospital from the wounds that he sustained. 

During the bond hearing, the solicitor said dashboard camera video showed the chase involved speeds up to 127 mph. Dollard claimed she saw something, possibly a weapon, in Langley’s hand, according to WCSC.

No weapon was found at the scene, according to the state.

Langley’s attorney pointed out that Dollard was fired twice before, once in 2002 at the Johnsonville Police Department for “poor performance,” and another time in 2014 at the state’s Department of Public Safety, according to The Associated Press.

Langley died “all because a cop was, one, out of her depth and two, apparently not trained well or didn’t listen in training,” said family attorney Bakari Sellers at a news conference on Wednesday, according to the AP.

A defense attorney for Dollard said the officer was “sorry” for the shooting and grieves with the family, the wire service noted. 

But Langley’s family is pushing for Dollard to be held responsible for the shooting and for a comprehensive review of police department policy.

“When they called and told me he was killed unjustified, it killed me and his family,” said Roslynn Langley, his mother, according to WCSC. “Nobody understands what I’m going through right now. My son meant the world to me.”