A woman is dead following a traffic stop at a McDonald's in Greenville County, coroner says

2022-08-20 11:30:16 By : Ms. Sunny Li

The victim appears to be in her 20s

The victim appears to be in her 20s

The latest breaking updates, delivered straight to your email inbox.

The victim appears to be in her 20s

A woman is dead following a traffic stop Thursday afternoon at a McDonald's in Greenville County, according to Deputy Coroner Mike Ellis with Greenville County Coroner's Office.

The woman is in her 20s and is believed to be from Georgia, Ellis said.

According to Ellis, it appears the woman died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound

Deputies attempted to negotiate with the driver to surrender following a traffic stop around 2:30 p.m. at the McDonald's on White Horse Road, according to Lt. Ryan Flood with the Greenville County Sheriff's Office.

During the stop reports of a gunshot were heard from the vehicle, Flood said.

One store clerk heard the gunshot too.

"Police came over to tell me to lock the door and everything and don't come outside and stay safe. I’d be scared here too if something happened over here," Chirag Patel said.

Rudy DeMaria said police flooded the scene.

"They just kept coming. They just kept coming. For almost 20 minutes to a half hour, one after another. Undercover vehicles, suburban, pickup trucks, I have never seen so many," DeMaria said.

Just before 4 p.m., Sky 4 video over the scene showed several deputies with weapons drawn and body armor approaching the vehicle. They broke the passenger side window. Minutes later, deputies lowered their weapons and moved away from the vehicle as the emergency appeared to be over.

"Whoever was in that car their family is you know they just lost somebody they loved. And as far as all of the police involved, I can just imagine they're all gonna go home and hug their kids a little tighter tonight. Because whoever pulled that car over they could've been shot," DeMaria said.

DeMaria added Thursday's incident was a tragedy, one he believed shocked a community.

"My heart goes out to the family. Then I was thinking, if that was on the news then imagine every officer in Greenville they’re family is worried now. So there is a lot of emotion flying around Greenville today," DeMaria said.

A WYFF News 4 viewer sent this video below of the first minutes as deputies responded to the scene.

The coroner has not identified the woman.

According to Flood, the area around White Horse and Frontage roads was blocked off during the incident.

Hearst Television participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.