Coffin Conversations - by dementia

A Walhalla man might have had a good reason for not responding to officers who surrounded his home: He was asleep in a recliner when the SWAT team found him after a four-hour standoff, authorities said.

“He did not know we were there until we put our hands on him,” Oconee County Sheriff’s Capt. Steve Jenkins said.

The 26-year-old had run his mother from their home Tuesday night by firing several shots, deputies said.

Officers surrounding the home first heard breaking glass and other noise, but then heard nothing from the man, despite making calls on a telephone they were able to get into the house and talking over a patrol car’s loudspeaker, authorities said.


A second SWAT team went around the back of the house after about four hours and saw him asleep in a chair, Jenkins said.

Officers entered stealthily and woke the man up to arrest him. He’s been charged with discharging a firearm into a residence, but could face additional charges, Jenkins said.

No one was injured, but the home had bullet holes in the walls and ceiling, he said. Deputies said they recovered about 15 guns in the house.