Man who killed 2 South Carolina officers and wounded 5 others in ambush prepares for sentencing

By JEFFREY COLLINS
Associated Press

A 79-year-old South Carolina man likely faces life in prison when he is sentenced for killing two police officers and wounding five more in a 2018 ambush he set up after detectives told him they were coming to serve a search warrant on his son. Investigators say Frederick Hopkins was waiting in a second story room in his upscale Florence neighborhood when the Florence County deputies arrived. He didn’t stop shooting for 30 minutes. Hopkins pleaded guilty in an unannounced hearing last week to two counts of murder and five counts of attempted murder. His attorney said prosecutors agreed to take the possibility of the death penalty off the table in exchange for the plea.