🚨 The Traffic Stop That Turned Into a Deadly Shootout

Charleston County, South Carolina — May 7

It was a warm Sunday afternoon on Savannah Highway near Ravenel, South Carolina.

Traffic was moving along the highway. Businesses and roadside properties lined the area. Nothing about the scene suggested that, within minutes, a routine traffic stop would become a deadly exchange of gunfire.

At approximately 3:45 p.m. on May 7, , Charleston County Sheriff's Deputy Evan Cubbage stopped a black Crown Victoria in the 4900 block of Savannah Highway. A woman was driving. A man was sitting in the passenger seat.

The encounter initially appeared calm.

Then something changed.

Cubbage requested another deputy.

Deputy Alexander Hodge arrived to provide backup.

Less than a minute later, the passenger was outside the vehicle—and a gunfight began.

By the time the shooting ended, Cubbage had been shot three times, Hodge had fired his weapon, and the passenger, 28-year-old James Rakeem Pierce of Walterboro, was dead at the scene.

What makes the case particularly striking is that much of the encounter was preserved by a patrol-car dashcam.

The Stop Begins

Deputy Evan Cubbage had been with the Charleston County Sheriff's Office since 2020.

On that Sunday afternoon, he initiated a traffic stop on Savannah Highway near Ravenel.

According to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, the stop was related to a traffic violation. Cubbage encountered two people inside the vehicle—a female driver and a male passenger.

The early portion of the dashcam footage shows an encounter that appears relatively ordinary.

Cubbage approaches the vehicle and speaks with the occupants.

There is conversation.

There is no immediate indication that the scene is about to become violent.

But after a brief interaction, Cubbage requested backup.

That decision would prove critical.

Deputy Hodge Arrives

Deputy Alexander Hodge responded to assist.

According to the Charleston County Sheriff's Office, Hodge had been on the scene for only about 15 seconds when the situation changed dramatically.

The two deputies were now standing near the Crown Victoria.

Cubbage moved toward the passenger.

The passenger, later identified as James Rakeem Pierce, was asked to step out of the vehicle.

The dashcam recording captures the conversation immediately before the shooting.

Cubbage told Pierce not to reach for anything.

For several seconds, the situation remained tense but controlled.

Then Cubbage suddenly recognized the danger.

“He’s got a gun!”

The next sound was gunfire.

The First Shots

Pierce pulled a handgun and began firing toward the deputies.

Cubbage and Hodge immediately moved for cover.

According to a later South Carolina General Assembly resolution honoring the deputies, Cubbage pushed Hodge out of the line of fire as they attempted to get behind the vehicle.

The black Crown Victoria suddenly became the center of the confrontation.

The deputies were no longer conducting a traffic stop.

They were fighting for their lives.

Pierce continued firing.

Cubbage returned fire.

Hodge also engaged the gunman.

And then Cubbage was hit.

“I’m Hit!”

Three rounds struck Deputy Cubbage.

The dashcam captures the moment when the reality of the injuries becomes clear.

Cubbage can be heard telling his fellow deputy:

“I’m hit!”

Despite being wounded, Cubbage remained involved in the confrontation.

Hodge continued firing.

The gunman continued to shoot.

For several seconds, the vehicles provided the only available cover as the deputies tried to stop the attack.

Cubbage had been shot, but the confrontation was not over.

A Gunfight Around the Car

The dashcam perspective makes the geography of the encounter especially important.

The Crown Victoria sits between the participants.

The deputies move around the vehicle.

Pierce moves as well.

The shooting is no longer confined to a single position.

The officers are attempting to use the car for cover while simultaneously returning fire.

According to the General Assembly's account, Hodge eventually went to the ground while continuing to engage Pierce. Cubbage maneuvered around the vehicle and continued returning fire.

The exchange was happening extremely quickly.

There was no long standoff.

No extended negotiation.

The entire confrontation unfolded in seconds.

The Passenger Is Fatally Shot

Pierce was struck by gunfire during the exchange.

The shooting stopped.

He was fatally wounded and died at the scene.

The Charleston County Coroner later identified him as James Rakeem Pierce, 28, of Walterboro, South Carolina. The cause of death was a gunshot wound.

Deputy Hodge had survived the confrontation without physical injury.

But Cubbage had been shot three times.

The danger was finally over—but now the deputies had to deal with the aftermath.

The Driver Emerges

The woman who had been driving the Crown Victoria was still at the scene.

After the shooting, she exited the vehicle with her hands raised.

She was not injured.

Deputies detained her while investigators began securing the area. Authorities did not initially identify her publicly or state whether she would face charges.

The scene that had begun as a traffic stop was now surrounded by investigators, emergency personnel and law-enforcement officers.

A vehicle sat damaged from the confrontation.

A deputy was wounded.

A passenger was dead.

And the roadway had become an active crime scene.

Cubbage Is Rushed to the Hospital

Deputy Cubbage was transported to the Medical University of South Carolina.

His injuries were described as serious but non-life-threatening.

He had suffered three gunshot wounds.

Yet only hours after the shooting, Cubbage was released from the hospital.

According to the Charleston County Sheriff's Office, he left medical care at approximately 9 p.m., roughly five hours after the shooting.

It was an extraordinary turnaround considering how violent the encounter had been.

Hodge, meanwhile, remained physically uninjured.

Both deputies were placed on paid administrative leave as the investigation proceeded, consistent with the department's protocol following an officer-involved shooting.

The Dashcam Footage

In the days following the shooting, investigators and officials began reviewing the patrol-car recording.

The footage was eventually released publicly on May 12, 2023.

The Charleston County Sheriff's Office released approximately eleven minutes of dashcam footage, including an unedited version and a version with blurring. The agency warned viewers that the material contained graphic content.

The recording became an important visual record of the encounter.

Unlike a short news clip showing only the shooting, the footage preserves the buildup.

It shows Cubbage approaching the vehicle.

It shows the interaction with the occupants.

It shows Hodge arriving.

And it captures the sudden transition from conversation to gunfire.

That transition is what makes the recording so striking.

The Seconds Before the Shooting

There is a long period in the footage when nothing appears extraordinary.

Cubbage is talking to the people in the car.

The passenger is still seated.

The deputy is attempting to understand the situation.

Then Hodge arrives.

Cubbage asks the passenger to exit.

The passenger begins moving.

Cubbage warns him not to reach for anything.

Then everything changes.

A firearm appears.

The warning comes.

“He’s got a gun!”

And the shooting begins.

According to the later legislative account, Pierce fired repeatedly at the deputies, forcing them to seek cover and return fire.

The Investigation

Because a South Carolina law-enforcement officer was involved in the shooting, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) conducted the independent criminal investigation.

SLED announced on May 8 that its agents were investigating the May 7 shooting.

The agency said it would interview witnesses, collect relevant evidence and conduct forensic testing as needed before submitting its investigative findings to prosecutors.

At the time of the initial announcement, SLED emphasized that the investigation was ongoing and that additional information would not immediately be released.

That distinction is important when examining incidents captured on police cameras.

The video provides evidence of what happened visually, but investigators still have to determine the complete circumstances surrounding the shooting.

A Deputy's Split-Second Decision

One of the most consequential moments came before the first shot.

According to the South Carolina General Assembly's account of the incident, Cubbage pushed Hodge out of the line of fire when Pierce began shooting.

Both deputies then sought cover and returned fire.

The incident illustrates how quickly officers may have to make decisions when a traffic stop suddenly becomes an armed confrontation.

There was no opportunity for a lengthy discussion.

There was no time to carefully assess every possibility.

The deputies had seconds.

And those seconds determined what happened next.

The Aftermath for the Deputies

The physical wounds eventually healed, but the incident became a significant moment in the careers of both deputies.

In January 2024, Evan Cubbage and Alexander Hodge received the South Carolina Sheriffs' Association Medal of Valor for their actions during the shooting. The South Carolina General Assembly subsequently adopted a resolution recognizing the two deputies.

The legislative resolution described their actions during the shooting and specifically recognized their rapid response while under fire.

Their recognition came months after the incident, long after the patrol car had left the scene and the evidence had been collected.

But the dashcam recording remained.

One Traffic Stop. Seconds of Violence.

Perhaps the most unsettling aspect of the case is the contrast between the opening and the ending.

At the beginning:

A deputy approaches a vehicle.

A conversation takes place.

Backup arrives.

A passenger is asked to step out.

Then:

A firearm appears.

Gunshots erupt.

A deputy is hit.

Two officers return fire.

The passenger is fatally wounded.

The driver emerges with her hands raised.

And an ordinary roadside traffic stop becomes a homicide investigation and officer-involved shooting scene.

The entire transformation happens in a matter of seconds.

What the Camera Cannot Show

A dashcam provides a powerful perspective, but it is still only one perspective.

It does not capture every angle.

It does not provide every thought or decision made by the people involved.

And it does not replace the independent investigation.

That is why SLED's involvement was significant.

The agency was tasked with examining the evidence and circumstances surrounding the shooting independently of the sheriff's office.

The footage is therefore best understood as one important piece of a larger investigative record.

The Final Image

After the gunfire stops, the scene becomes almost surreal.

The Crown Victoria is still sitting beside the road.

The deputies are still there.

The driver is outside the vehicle.

Pierce is down.

Cubbage is injured.

The sounds of traffic continue beyond the immediate scene.

For anyone watching the dashcam footage, the contrast is difficult to miss.

Only moments earlier, this was a traffic stop.

Now it is a crime scene.

Final Perspective

The May 7, 2023 shooting on Savannah Highway is a powerful example of how quickly a roadside encounter can change.

Deputy Evan Cubbage stopped a vehicle for a traffic violation.

Deputy Alexander Hodge arrived as backup.

The passenger was asked to step out.

Then a handgun appeared.

The deputies came under fire.

Cubbage was shot three times.

Hodge returned fire.

Pierce was fatally wounded.

And the driver survived the encounter without physical injury.

The dashcam footage preserves the sequence in extraordinary detail—not just the gunfire, but the quiet moments immediately before it.

That is what makes the recording so significant.

There is no dramatic warning that something terrible is about to happen.

There is simply a traffic stop.

A conversation.

A request for backup.

A passenger stepping out.

And then, in an instant, everything changes.