PICKENS COUNTY, S.C. – A woman in South Carolina shot and killed an escaped inmate that broke into her home early Tuesday morning, according to police.
Two inmates, Bruce Webb McLaughlin Jr., 30, and Timothy Cleveland Dill, 32, escaped the Pickens County Prison about 2:30 a.m. Tuesday, police said. Pickens County Sheriff Rick Clark believes the escape may have been days or weeks in the making.
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According to arrest warrants obtained by WYFF, McLaughlin and Dill assaulted prison officers before taking their keys and locking them in a secure area. The pair then escaped the facility by climbing over a fence.
Dill, who was incarcerated for criminal sexual conduct with a minor, was located and taken into custody before 3 a.m., police said.
The woman whose home was broken into called 911 just after 3 a.m. saying that she shot a man who had kicked in her back door, according to police.
Investigators said the woman was home alone when McLaughlin broke in armed with a metal knife and wearing an orange jumpsuit. The woman shot the escaped inmate once in the head as he was standing outside her bedroom door, according to police.
McLaughlin was flown to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. He was serving time for first-degree burglary and grand larceny, officials said.
The woman, who had her concealed weapons permit, was not injured, according to police. Clark said she had no relation to McLaughlin.
“This is the shining example of what this lady did: took the time to get her CWP and set herself up to be able to protect herself and not be harmed, killed or raped or whatever,” Clark said. “She came out on the good on this end and the other guy--the bad guy--didn’t.”
Dill is being held without bond on charges of escape, strong-arm robbery, malicious injury to the jail and two counts each of kidnapping and first-degree assault and battery, officials said.