A traffic stop on airport property in Florence, South Carolina, turned fatal in the early hours of January 5, 2020. Jackson Ryan Winkeler, 26, an officer with the Florence Airport Public Safety Department, was shot and found dead outside his vehicle. More than 30 spent shell casings were recovered at the scene and an empty 9mm handgun was found; Winkeler’s service weapon was initially missing.

The driver, James Edward Bell, 37, fled but was arrested shortly afterward near Highway 52. Officers recovered Winkeler’s firearm in Bell’s vehicle. Bell was charged with murder, discharging a firearm into a vehicle, and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. While awaiting trial he was also charged with first-degree assault and battery for an attack on another inmate. In May 2023 the Twelfth Circuit Solicitor’s Office filed a Notice of Intent to Seek the Death Penalty against Bell.

Winkeler had been with the airport public safety department five months and served as a volunteer firefighter; colleagues remembered his contagious laughter and infectious personality. If anyone has information about the events of January 5, 2020, or witnessed activity near the Florence Regional Airport that night, please share what was seen.