Updates: Two Spartanburg Water employees, Sheriff's Office deputy shot near Cleveland Park

Two Spartanburg Water employees were shot Thursday afternoon while making sewer line repairs near Cleveland Park Drive and Amelia Street in Spartanburg.

A Spartanburg County Sheriff's deputy was also shot, but the deputy's condition was not life-threatening, according to Lt. Kevin Bobo.

At 6:20 p.m. Thursday, Spartanburg County Coroner Rusty Clevenger said his office had been called to Cleveland Park Drive.

It was not immediately clear how many fatalities were involved.

The two water employees were shot early in the afternoon and it took more than two hours before Spartanburg Police, Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office and the State Law Enforcement Division were able to get to the suspect, who had barricaded himself in a house in the Cleveland Park area after the shooting.

State Law Enforcement Division officers were on the scene, and others were en route to Spartanburg, said SLED spokesman Tommy Crosby.

Residents in nearby homes were evacuated, and local traffic was rerouted for hours.

"We are told someone is barricaded in a house," Crosby said late Thursday afternoon. "SLED officers are working with local law enforcement officers. We are working in a support role with local authorities."

A few staff at the Cleveland Academy of Leadership and students at The Franklin School were placed on lockdown during the shootings, said Beth Lancaster, Spartanburg School District 7 spokeswoman.

At 5:04 p.m., more shots were fired and a SWAT team approached a nearby house and shouted, "Come out with your hands up!"

Sheriff Chuck Wright said during a 5:30 p.m. news conference that the scene at the house was now clear. No other details have been released. 

Wright held a joint news conference with Spartanburg Police Department Maj. Art Littlejohn and Greenville County Sheriff Hobart Lewis at the Piedmont Interstate Fairgrounds. 

The Greenville County Sheriff's Office was called in because the Spartanburg Police Department, Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office and SLED were all involved in the case, Wright said.

During the news conference, Wright said the deputy was shot in the arm. He thanked Littlejohn for taking the deputy to the hospital.

"He (Littlejohn) threw down the banister and got the deputy to the hospital," Wright said. "It is a terrible thing to get a phone call about a deputy getting shot."

Wright stayed at the hospital long enough to learn that the deputy would recover from his injuries, but he didn't have an answer as to what happened or what caused someone to shoot three people.

"We don't know what started it," Wright said. "There was nothing the water employees could have done to stop it."

Littlejohn was thankful the deputy's injuries weren't life threatening.

"We all know each other and we are friends," Littlejohn said. "We have been working together for years."

By Thursday evening the area was still an active crime scene, Littlejohn said. He said the people who had to be evacuated from their homes would be allowed back when the investigation was completed.

Water department officials released a statement late Thursday to confirm that both employees were in "good condition" and that their gunshot wounds were not life-threatening.

"Today’s events have certainly been difficult for our Spartanburg Water family," the statement read. "We are grateful for the incredible work done today by our City of Spartanburg and Spartanburg County law enforcement officials and first responders. Our hearts are with all those impacted by today’s senseless acts of violence, and we continue to hold our employees affected and their families in our thoughts and prayers."

Spartanburg Water spokesman Jennifer Candler said the employees had been out in the area to do some work on a sewer line.

"It looks like it’s still an ongoing situation so we keep looking to see what’s going on," she said earlier Thursday.

Candler would not release the names of the water system employees.

"Our guys are amazing," Candler said. "They’re going out there every day doing stuff, so you just never know. But they’re in our thoughts and prayers and we hope everything works out OK, especially too if anyone else is involved."

Check back for updates to this developing story.