Seven police officers were shot, one fatally, when a gunman opened fire in the the US state of South Carolina last night.
Shots were fired from inside a home near Florence, sparking a two-hour standoff which ended with the suspect's arrest, authorities said.
Florence County Sheriff Kenney Boone said several of his officers came under attack as they tried to execute a search warrant on the city's western edge.
After the man opened fire, he barricaded himself in the house for two hours until he was apprehended.
"Fire was being shot all over," Sheriff Boone said. "The way the suspect was positioned, his view of fire was several hundred yards, so he had an advantage."
An unspecified number of children who were inside the home were all accounted for and safe after the suspect was taken into custody, said Major Michael Nunn, a spokesman for the sheriff's office.
In emergency radio transmissions from the scene, a dispatcher is heard saying: "Have an officer down," before warning rescue units that access to the victim was limited.
"They advise the patient is going to be behind a residence, and the suspect was still firing. Units be advised, shots are still being fired at this time," the dispatcher said.
At a news conference hours later, Sheriff Boone confirmed that three county sheriff's deputies and four Florence city police officers were struck by gunfire in the incident, and that one of the city officers had died.
The officer who died has been identified as Terrence Carraway, a 30-year veteran of the Florence Police Department.
The condition of the six surviving wounded officers was not immediately known, though officials indicated some were "badly injured".
Florence, a city of about 38,000 people, is in the Pee Dee region of northeastern South Carolina that experienced Hurricane Florence last month.
President Donald Trump tweeted that his "thoughts and prayers" are with the Florence County Sheriffs Office and the Florence Police Department.
"We are forever grateful for what our Law Enforcement Officers do," he added.
My thoughts and prayers are with the Florence County Sheriff’s Office and the Florence Police Department tonight, in South Carolina. We are forever grateful for what our Law Enforcement Officers do 24/7/365. https://t.co/ZwDmDthItD
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 4, 2018
