A five hour standoff at a Burke County home ended when law enforcement officers shot a wanted felon from Baltimore who was holding two children in the home during the standoff.
Kevin McCardell was shot last night by members of the Burke County Sheriff’s Office Special Response Team after the hours-long standoff with deputies.
On Wednesday, deputies met with the Rebecca Crews at the Sheriff’s Office regarding a domestic violence incident where she escaped her residence. Crews told deputies she was physically assaulted and held against her will by McCardell, with whom she shares two children, ages 1 and 2.
Crews said she hid in the woods for several hours until a family member picked her up and took her to the Sheriff’s Office. During the interview with Crews, deputies learned McCardell has outstanding felony warrants stemming from a June 2022 domestic violence incident in Baltimore.
The warrants are for 1st degree assault, 2nd degree assault, and attempted first degree murder.
Deputies went to the residence on Southside Drive to conduct a welfare check on the children and follow up on the allegations.
According to the Burke County Sheriff’s Office, deputies were met at the door by McCardell, who while holding both children in his arms, brandished a pistol, pointed it at deputies, and fired a shot. McCardell retreated further into the residence and then came back to the door, and fired a second shot.
Deputies returned fire and McCardell barricaded himself in the residence, firing a third shot. Deputies
secured the scene, had McCardell contained to his apartment, and called the the Special Response Team. A negotiator made telephone contact with McCardell through his father, spending several hours negotiating McCardell’s surrender.
Over the course of the negotiations, deputies say McCardell was erratic and threatened to kill deputies.
The negotiations resulted in McCardell coming to the door. Law enforcement deployed a distraction device and McCardell again, while holding his children in his arms brandished a handgun and pointed it at the Special Response entry team, using the children as a human shield.
A Special Response team member fired his weapon, shooting McCardell, who was taken into custody.
He was treated on scene for a gunshot wound to the leg and transported to Augusta University
Medical Center.
The children were rescued, treated by Burke County EMA, and relinquished to Crews. The children were not harmed and no officers were injured during the standoff.
McCardell faces the following felony charges:
False Imprisonment
Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Crime (multiple counts)
Aggravated Assault on a Police Officer (multiple counts)
Sheriff Alfonzo Williams called the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office to conduct an investigation into the shooting.
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