A man was fatally shot after triggering a booby-trapped shotgun while checking on a family member’s home in a small town in South Carolina, authorities said on Wednesday. Deputies responded to a call about a shooting at a house in Saint Matthews, South Carolina, on Monday evening, according to the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office.
When they arrived, they found Jordan Dove, 34, with a gunshot wound. The sheriff’s office confirmed that Dove, who was from Lugoff, about 45 miles northeast of Saint Matthews, was taken to the hospital, where he later died from his injuries.
Dove was reportedly checking on a vacant property that belonged to a family member when he was shot. The sheriff’s office said the shooting appeared to have come from inside the house. They suspected the house might have been rigged with a booby trap.
Law enforcement officers quickly set up a perimeter around the home and cautiously entered. Once inside, they discovered a shotgun rigged to fire when someone tried to enter the back door. The front door of the house was barricaded, and there were no other people in the residence. Deputies carefully dismantled the shotgun and secured the area while investigators processed the crime scene.
The homeowner, identified as Alfonzo Brown, is expected to face charges related to the incident. Brown is currently in prison in another state. The investigation is ongoing, though authorities assured the public that the shooting was an isolated event, and there is no ongoing threat.
Calhoun County Sheriff Thomas Summers said in a statement, “This was a very dangerous situation that appeared to be targeted towards law enforcement. It is yet another example of the dangers faced by law enforcement every day.”
Brown, who is 66 years old, is currently being held in Maryland for unrelated charges. He faces accusations of attempted murder, assault, reckless endangerment, and firearm offenses. Brown was arrested in connection with a triple shooting in Prince George’s County, Maryland, earlier this year, where two men and a woman were injured. The victims were reportedly members of Brown’s family.
Online court records show that Brown was named a person of interest in the shooting. Authorities have said that Dove, Brown’s nephew, was just trying to check on the family property when the tragic shooting occurred.
In a similar case, booby traps have been discovered in homes across the country in recent years. Last November, a 61-year-old man in Southern California was arrested after booby-trapping a shotgun inside a garage. The suspect, Arthur Tabuchi, rigged a shotgun shell to fire when the garage door was opened. Police also found another booby trap at the property, which had recently been discharged. Tabuchi was taken to a hospital for a mental health evaluation and faces multiple charges.
In December 2023, a man from southern Oregon was sentenced to over 12 years in prison for booby-trapping his former home and injuring a federal officer. The man, Gregory Lee Rodvelt, used a variety of homemade booby traps to defend his property after losing it in a lawsuit.
The traps, which were inspired by the famous movie character Indiana Jones, included shotguns rigged to fire when triggered by movement. Federal bomb technicians had to clear the property, and a shotgun device injured one officer.
These incidents highlight the dangers posed by homemade booby traps and the ongoing need for law enforcement to handle such situations carefully.
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