A suspect was fatally shot by a Richland County deputy, Wednesday morning.

According to LCSD, the incident occurred on Hilton Yonce Road in Pelion after a multi-jurisdictional pursuit. The departments involved included Richland County, South Carolina Highway Patrol, and the Lexington Police Department.

The suspect initiated the pursuit in Lexington,  after a Lexington Police Department officer was responding to a report of someone breaking into cars. The officer confirmed the car the suspect was driving had been stolen, and attempted to stop him, according to LCSD.

Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon has requested that the State Law Enforcement Division lead the investigation into the incident, as is standard procedure.

Later Wednesday, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott held a press conference to address the officer-involved shooting that occurred a little after 5 a.m.

According to Lott, the pursuit began in the Town of Lexington, when an officer responded to a call regarding vehicle break-ins. The suspect was identified as Zachary Alexander Kinard, 26, and determined the car he was in was stolen. Lott said the chase continued across the Lake Murray Dam, and then the S.C. Highway Patrol took over. Richland County deputies were notified by the Highway Patrol, as the suspect entered the county on Broad River Road.

Kinard made it to Greystone Boulevard, then go onto to I-20, and I-26. Then he exited at Highway 302. Kinard kept going until he got to the  Pelion area, Lott said, close to where he lived. He eventually spun out on Hilton Yonce Road.

“Our officer approached the car, at which point the suspect pointed the gun at the deputy, where our deputy fired numerous rounds,” said Lott. Inside the suspect’s car there were two guns, one was stolen from the break-ins in Lexington. One gun the suspect had was stolen last week, said Lott.

The deputy involved in the shooting, identified by Lott as Richard Hazel, has been a Richland County K9 officer since 2013. “He’s served admirably and no issues with him,” Lott noted. “At this point he’s going through our normal protocol which is getting some rest, being with his family, taking care of mental issues – anyone going through this is going to have some.”

According to Lott, the officer will not be on administrative leave during the SLED investigation. “We’ll address his needs and once it’s been determined he’s ready to come back to work, he’ll come back to work. You don’t want to treat someone like they’ve done something wrong when they haven’t,” he said.

Zachary Kinard previously served 12 years in prison for burglary, drug charges, and stolen car charges, according to Lott. The Sheriff also mentioned he was currently out on bond from an arrest that occurred a few weeks ago. “He was a one man crime wave who was not going to stop until he got caught. This morning he got caught ,” said Lott.

The officer’s body camera and dash camera were on during the incident, according to Lott. However, he said the videos will not be released to media, as they are currently part of the investigation.