Killed in the line of duty: Terrence Carraway was a 30-year veteran with the Florence Police Department was shot responding to the call of officers under fire. He later died in hospital on Wednesday

The police officer killed in South Carolina on Wednesday by a gunman who also wounded six other cops had recently been honored for 30 years of service.

Terrence Carraway, 52, of the Florence Police Department lost his life in the line of duty when officers tried to serve the suspect a search warrant inside his home.

“I want you to pray for the family who lost the bravest police officer I have ever known,” Police Chief Allen Heidler said.

Authorities used a bullet-proof vehicle to recover the wounded officers as the gunman fired at them for hours while barricaded inside the Florence home with children. He released the kids when he was taken into custody.

“Officers went there unknowing the firepower the suspect had,” Florence County Sheriff Kenney Boone said. “Fire was being shot all over. The way this suspect was positioned, his view of fire was several hundred yards. So he had an advantage. The officers couldn’t get to the ones who were down.”

Shooter: Fred Hopkins reportedly barricaded himself in his home with children and sprayed bullets across his upscale suburban neighborhood, in Florence, SC on Wednesday evening.

The gunman initially opened fire on three deputies who came to serve the warrant at around 4 p.m. He then shot four Florence police officers who arrived on the scene, including Carraway.
The shooter was taken into custody has been identified as Fred Hopkins, a military veteran who received disability payments after being wounded in the Vietnam War.
Hopkins, 74,  is also a disbarred lawyer who has faced several charges in recent years, starting with a 2014 count of disorderly conduct.

Blood-soaked evidence and blood spatters on the ground at the scene, after the 2-hour standoff on Wednesday in SCHopkins barricaded himself in his home with children and sprayed bullets across his upscale suburban neighborhood, authorities said.

The shootings took place in an upscale neighborhood in the western part of the city.

“Surprised is probably an understatement,” local resident Bobby Goin said. “The worst thing that goes on around here is that someone runs a stop sign and it gets posted on Facebook.”
However, officials said that Police have been called to the home dozens of times over the years.
The sheriff’s office said Hopkins fired on deputies investigating the sexual assault of a child.
Officials said the officers were trying to serve a warrant involving an accusation that 27-year-old Seth Hopkins, sexually assaulted a foster child in the home.
Officer Terrence Carraway rushed to respond when Hopkins opened fire from a home in Florence County, South Carolina. As the barrage of bullets kept coming, he and his colleagues had to be rescued.

Fred Hopkins is seen with his wife his wife Cheryl Turner Hopkins, reportedly a prominent attorney in SC