Master Public Safety Officer Edward Scott ’Scotty’ Richardson, 33, was killed by gunshot wounds after a traffic stop in Aiken, South Carolina, on the evening of Tuesday, December 20, 2011. Richardson, a 12-year veteran of the Aiken Department of Public Safety, and another officer stopped a vehicle on Brandt Court near Camellia Street that was being sought in connection with an earlier incident. Someone in the stopped vehicle opened fire; Richardson was struck and fatally wounded, and his partner was hit but survived due to a protective vest.

Richardson was taken to Georgia Health Sciences University Hospital and died in the early hours of December 21, 2011. The shooting prompted an investigation and the arrest of several suspects; one individual later pleaded guilty in connection with the murder and another man was identified as the shooter. Richardson left behind a wife and three young children and his death affected the Aiken community and fellow officers.

If anyone has information about the traffic stop, the suspects, or witnessed the events on Brandt Court that night, please share what is known.