Residents in Chester County, South Carolina, showed their gratitude to law enforcement by honking their horns as they drove by the deputies’ command post after law enforcement caught a wanted murder suspect.
Their seven-day manhunt led to the arrest of Tyler Terry, 26, who is suspected of the murders of four people: at least two in South Carolina and two in St. Louis. One of the victims was his girlfriend’s estranged husband in Chester County. In St. Louis, Terry shot at an elderly couple in a vehicle, killing the wife and injuring the husband. St. Louis police called the situation a “modern day Bonnie and Clyde,” as Adrienne Simpson was an accomplice to the murders.
The fourth victim was Thomas Hardin, whose body was found at his home in York, South Carolina.
Terry also faces additional attempted murder charges after firing rounds that just missed deputies through their car windshields during a 30-mile chase that set off the manhunt. According to KFVS12, Terry was able to avoid capture by living in the woods.
Chester County Sheriff Max Dorsey described the intense manhunt. “We had confidence he was in our bubble and he was inside our bubble the whole time,” Dorsey said. “It just worked out the good Lord was looking down on us, and it just worked out. It was from the determination and tenacity of everyone over there.”
Dorsey said they got “the break we were looking for” when officers learned Terry had run across Hwy 9 from Lincoln Road. This clued them in to Terry’s location. As the sun went down, officers created a perimeter and sent in hundreds of law enforcement personnel dividing into “push teams.”
The sheriff said that Terry was found lying on the ground in some “high weeds” when he was taken in by ATF agents. He was unarmed at the time and didn’t have a phone, but a firearm was found nearby.
Terry was then sent to the Chester County Detention Center to be quarantined for 10 days according to COVID-19 protocols.
In all, over 300 officers were involved in the manhunt from local and federal agencies such as the FBI, ATF and the DHS. After the capture, the officers were elated.
Dorsey said, “They were proud and high fiving. You couldn’t hear it, but they said they love each other.”
The community also took part in their joy. Wendy Blankenship said she and her children wanted to show appreciation for the law enforcement’s hard work by driving by and acknowledging their efforts. “We’ve been praying for them and hoping it would come to a peaceful end, which it has,” Blankenship said. “They persevered over the last week. It’s been amazing. The community is amazing.”
