A South Carolina police officer killed in a wreck while responding to a shooting call was not wearing her seatbelt, ran a red light at 64 mph, and never hit her brakes before the crash, according to an investigation by a special team of South Carolina troopers, reports the Associated Press.
Columbia Officer Stacy Case's cruiser was hit almost directly on the driver's door by a University of South Carolina police officer going 76 mph, police Chief Skip Holbrook said Monday, summarizing the troopers' report.
University police Sgt. Allan Bolin also wasn't wearing a seatbelt. He survived.
Video: South Carolina Officer Killed in Crash of Two Patrol Cars
Case and Bolin wrecked three minutes after a 911 call about shots fired and one person hit at a restaurant in downtown Columbia on a Saturday night, Holbrook said. The call turned out to be a public suicide.
New agency guidelines will now require officers to come to a full stop at red lights before entering an intersection in any call for help, reports the Columbia State.
Guidelines at the time of the crash allowed officers to go through red lights in certain situations as long as they slowed down and made sure the way was clear.
"She died a hero, responding to (a call for) help," Holbrook said of Case.
