A significant loss was suffered last night by the community in general and the law enforcement community in particular. As the result of the acts of a coward the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office lost one of their own to gunfire. A second deputy was seriously wounded. We have also heard that a member of the Charleston County Rescue Squad passed away last night as the result of a heart attack while working the shooting scene.
Within an hour of the incident CTL began receiving information. We chose not to run that information. On most occasions it is rather satisfying beating the local “news” media to the punch, but not in this situation. We haven’t even bothered to watch their coverage because we all know what it will devolve into eventually. It won’t be long before the reporting will be shaped to support certain political agendas.
We went back and forth all day long on whether to write this. We finally decided to put it out since we allowed the local media vultures to report the story first. There is quite a bit of additional information we have not included here. We will let the official investigation run it’s course and await the release of information from authorities just like everyone else.
Deputy Joe Matuskovic lost his life after being shot at 1840 Carriage Lane by a suspect described by a neighbor as “a ticking time bomb.” By all accounts, Deputy Matuskovic was a cop’s cop known for speaking truth to power, letting you know exactly what he thought and backing up his peers and subordinates. He is survived by his wife and three children. You can help the family of this dedicated public servant by donating HERE.
Deputy Michael Ackerman suffered a severe wound and is now reported as out of surgery and beginning his recovery.
While working to assist officers on-scene Charleston County Rescue Squad member Larry Britton suffered a fatal heart attack. Britton had dedicated a significant portion of his life to serving the citizens of Charleston County. He will be missed.
The worthless shooter, who fired from behind a closed door, also took the coward’s way out when he chose to grant himself Dead Right There status. We suppose we should feel fortunate no other officers had to risk their lives in order to put Michael Donovan Oswald down or arrest him, but hearing he assumed room temperature as a result of some serious lead poisoning administered by local cops would have been infinitely more satisfying. At least for us.
We searched several counties in South Carolina for a prior history on Oswald. From the limited information we could find most of his problems with the law appear to have one common factor - alcohol.
2003 Charges (Richland County):
DUI - Plead guilty. 30 days.
Leave the Scene of Accident Involving Personal Injury - Plead guilty. Sentenced to 1 year, suspended.
2012 Charges (Charleston County):
Hit and Run Involving Personal Injury - Plead guilty. Sentenced to $150 fine.
Carrying a Conceal Weapon (not a pistol) - Dismissed by the 9th Circuit Solicitor in August of 2013 with the notation “Facts insufficient to prosecute”.
There may be more history out there, but that is all we could find using public resources.
Those who knew Oswald have told local media he was anti-cop and anti-government. We have also heard he may have used an “assault rifle”. You can pretty much guess from those allegations where the media coverage will end up going.
There is also a significant segment of the local population relishing the death of Deputy Matuskovic. We have not yet decided what to do about those folks as we are currently too disgusted to make a rational decision. We have a number of options available from making those statement available for all to see or directing them at specific folks who are in a position to take action and make a point if they so desire. We will let that simmer for a bit before deciding. For those thugs posting such comments to the blog we suggest you not even waste your time. We will be tracking who makes them and from whence they come, but they won’t be published.
