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OCSO LODD

By Chris | May 4, 2008

The P&C Posted the following article on OCSO Deputy Howell, shot and killed on-duty Sat 03 May 2008:

William Howell Jr. loved helping people, but he was concerned about the dangers he faced as a deputy in rural Orangeburg County, a fellow law enforcement officer and friend said Saturday.

Howell, 46, of Cross, a former deputy for Berkeley and Dorchester counties, was shot and killed at 1:30 a.m. Saturday on a front porch while responding to a domestic violence call in the Holly Hill area. The man suspected of shooting Howell, 20-year-old Derrick Buras, was hit and killed by a car allegedly driven by his wife as he tried to leave the scene, Orangeburg County Sheriff Larry Williams said.

Buras, who was out of jail on bond on a charge of assault and battery with intent to kill, was found dead in a ditch about a mile from the scene. The State Law Enforcement Division is investigating his death, Williams said.

Howell served as a jailer at the Berkeley County detention center from 1993 to 2000. He served with the Moncks Corner Police Dept.; with the S.C. Department of Corrections; with the Dorchester County Sheriff’s Office, where he worked in the courts; and as an officer with the Jamestown Police

Department before moving on to the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office.

Berkeley County Coroner Glenn Rhoad recalled that Howell was good-natured and dedicated to his job. ‘He wanted to be a police officer real bad,’ Rhoad said.

Dorchester County Sheriff Ray Nash called for a moment of silence for Howell while speaking at a Republican Party prayer breakfast Saturday morning.

Berkeley County Sheriff’s Capt. Barry Currie, who heads the county’s detention center, said Howell was a close friend as well as a cautious and courageous officer. ‘It’s just a shock. I still can’t get over it,’ he said.

Currie and Howell roomed together while attending the S.C. Criminal Justice Academy in Columbia in the early 1990s.

Howell has a wife and three children in Cross. He played organ in church and had played for several slain officers’ funerals.

‘He was just always a good guy and wanted to help everybody,’ Currie said. He said he thinks the reason Howell held so many jobs was that he was looking for the best way he could serve.

‘Law enforcement was what he wanted to do,’ said Currie, who added that working as a jailer toughened Howell, who then decided to work a beat. Howell found ‘the road’ to be dangerous, and he had expressed some surprise at how much anger he saw in people.

‘While working the streets, he was seeing the other side. But he really loved that job. He said it was all he ever wanted to do,’ Currie said.

Currie said he last saw Howell about a month ago, when the Orangeburg deputy stopped by the Berkeley jail. ‘He had his uniform on and was ready to go to work,’ Currie recalled.

He said he and Howell had many conversations about safety on the job.

‘He always talked about safety and the area he worked in being dangerous,’ Currie said. ‘He wasn’t scared. He wouldn’t start a fight, but if there was one to go to, he didn’t back down.’

He said Howell was well-trained and aware that many officers are hurt and killed on domestic calls.

‘That guy had to catch him off guard,’ Currie surmised.

‘He was a hard-working and dedicated man. He was all about helping people,’ Currie said.

The Associated Press contributed to this story

Reach Edward C. Fennell at efennell@postandcourier.com or 745-5865.

Kudos to the wife for taking the suspect out!

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