The Traffic Stop That Changed in Seconds: The Ravenel Shooting

Opening: It Looked Like an Ordinary Traffic Stop

There are moments in law enforcement that begin so routinely that nobody involved has any reason to believe they are about to become unforgettable.

A vehicle pulls over.

An officer approaches.

Questions are asked.

A few minutes pass.

And then, without warning, the entire situation can change.

That is what happened on a Sunday afternoon in May 2023 along Savannah Highway near Ravenel, South Carolina.

The road was busy. Cars were moving through the area. Businesses and roadside properties lined the highway. Nothing about the scene immediately suggested that the next few minutes would end with gunfire, a wounded deputy, and a passenger dying at the scene.

But the encounter would eventually become one of the most dramatic traffic-stop shootings in Charleston County in recent years.

The incident began shortly before 3:45 p.m. on May 7, 2023, when Charleston County Sheriff's Deputy Evan Cubbage stopped a vehicle in the 4900 block of Savannah Highway near Ravenel.

Inside the vehicle were a woman behind the wheel and a male passenger.

At first, there was no indication that the stop was about to become deadly.

Cubbage approached the vehicle and began speaking with the occupants.

It was a traffic stop.

Then something changed.

According to authorities, Cubbage became concerned enough about the behavior of the occupants that he requested another deputy to come to the scene.

That decision would become critical.

A short time later, Deputy Alexander Hodge arrived to provide backup.

At that moment, the scene still looked like a traffic stop.

But only seconds later, it became a fight for survival.

And what happened next was captured, at least in part, by a patrol-car camera.

The First Warning Signs

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

On that Sunday afternoon, he was working in the Ravenel area when he initiated the traffic stop.

The exact circumstances leading to the stop were not the most important part of what happened next.

What mattered was what happened after the vehicle was pulled over.

Cubbage spoke with the driver and the passenger.

There was a conversation.

There was no immediate exchange of gunfire.

There was no sudden crash.

There was no obvious sign to passing motorists that a deadly confrontation was developing.

But Cubbage eventually called for backup.

That detail is important because it shows how quickly an officer's perception of a situation can change.

A traffic stop that initially appears manageable can become unpredictable when an officer cannot fully determine what is happening inside a vehicle.

The second deputy, Alexander Hodge, arrived shortly afterward.

The two deputies were now together.

According to later accounts of the incident, Hodge had been on the scene for only a matter of seconds when Cubbage asked the passenger to step out of the vehicle.

It was at this point that the encounter crossed a line from routine police work into an armed confrontation.

The passenger was later identified by the Charleston County Coroner's Office as 28-year-old James Rakeem Pierce of Walterboro, South Carolina.

What happened next unfolded with extraordinary speed.

“He's Got a Gun”

The released patrol footage provides a disturbing look at how little time the deputies had to react.

Cubbage was positioned near the passenger side of the vehicle.

Hodge had arrived to assist him.

The passenger was being directed out of the vehicle.

Then came the warning.

The deputies realized the passenger had a firearm.

The next moments were no longer about a traffic citation or an ordinary roadside conversation.

They were about finding cover, returning fire, and surviving.

According to accounts from authorities and later descriptions of the footage, Pierce opened fire on the deputies.

The first shots changed everything.

Cubbage was struck by gunfire.

Instead of having time to process what had happened, the deputies had to react immediately.

The patrol-car footage later released to the public captured the chaos from the perspective of the police vehicle.

The camera could not show every angle.

It could not explain every decision.

But it showed enough to reveal just how quickly a routine encounter had turned into a life-threatening exchange.

Cubbage moved for cover.

Hodge also reacted.

Gunfire continued around the vehicle.

For anyone watching the footage, one of the most striking details is the speed of the transformation.

Only moments earlier, the deputies had been dealing with a stopped vehicle.

Now they were exchanging gunfire with an armed passenger.

And one of the deputies had already been hit.

A Deputy Is Wounded

Deputy Cubbage was shot three times.

The injuries were serious, but they were not fatal.

That fact would not become clear until later.

At the moment the bullets struck him, there was no guarantee he would survive.

The situation remained active.

The deputies still had to deal with the armed man.

According to later accounts of the incident, Cubbage continued to fight despite being wounded.

Deputy Hodge also returned fire.

The two deputies were trying to protect themselves while stopping the threat.

The vehicle became more than just a car.

It became cover.

It became an obstacle.

It became the center of a rapidly moving gun battle.

The footage later released by the Sheriff's Office showed the deputies moving around the vehicle while attempting to respond to the gunfire.

The situation was confusing, violent, and extremely fast.

There was no time for a carefully planned response.

There was only reaction.

One deputy was wounded.

The other was still engaged.

And the armed passenger was continuing to fight.

The Driver Suddenly Finds Herself in the Middle of It

There was another person inside the vehicle.

The driver.

She had not been the person the deputies were exchanging gunfire with.

But suddenly, she was trapped in the middle of an armed confrontation.

As the shooting unfolded, she exited the vehicle.

According to authorities, she was not injured.

The footage later showed her moving away from the immediate danger as deputies ordered her to get back and stay down.

For her, the situation had transformed in seconds.

Whatever the original reason for the traffic stop, it no longer mattered.

There were now deputies with weapons drawn, an armed passenger, and gunfire happening around the vehicle.

She was eventually detained.

The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division was called in to investigate the shooting, as is standard in officer-involved shootings of this type.

At that early stage, authorities had not determined whether the driver would face charges.

That distinction is important.

Being inside a vehicle during a shooting does not, by itself, establish criminal responsibility.

The investigation would have to determine what happened before, during, and after the gunfire.

The Gunfire Continues

The most difficult part of the incident was still unfolding.

Pierce had been wounded, but the shooting had not immediately stopped.

According to reports describing the released footage, he continued firing even after being hit.

The deputies continued returning fire.

The exchange eventually ended when Pierce was fatally wounded.

He died at the scene.

The Charleston County Coroner's Office later identified him as James Rakeem Pierce, 28, of Walterboro.

The road and surrounding area suddenly became a crime scene.

A traffic stop had become a fatal officer-involved shooting.

Vehicles had to navigate around the aftermath.

Law enforcement agencies arrived to assist.

The northbound side of Savannah Highway was expected to remain closed for the rest of the day while investigators worked.

And somewhere nearby, people who had been driving along the highway moments earlier were now watching emergency vehicles converge on the scene.

The Moment After the Shooting

One of the most powerful aspects of incidents like this is what happens after the final shot.

The gunfire stops.

But the emergency does not.

Deputies have to determine who is injured.

Weapons must be secured.

Witnesses must be separated.

The scene must be preserved.

And the injured officer must receive medical attention.

For Deputy Cubbage, the next priority was survival.

He had been shot three times.

Deputy Hodge, who was not seriously injured in the shooting, helped provide emergency assistance.

Later accounts stated that Hodge applied tourniquets to Cubbage's legs.

That action became an important part of the story because the danger had not simply ended when Pierce was fatally wounded.

The deputies still had to stabilize the wounded officer.

Medical personnel transported Cubbage to the Medical University of South Carolina.

His injuries were described as serious but not life-threatening.

And then came the news that everyone waiting at the hospital wanted to hear.

Cubbage survived.

He was released from the hospital later that same evening, approximately five hours after the shooting.

The timeline is remarkable.

A deputy had been shot multiple times during a traffic stop.

The suspect had died at the scene.

And before the night was over, the wounded deputy had already left the hospital.

But the investigation was only beginning.

The Investigation Begins

Whenever a South Carolina law enforcement officer is involved in a shooting, the incident can trigger an independent investigation.

In this case, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, commonly known as SLED, investigated the shooting.

That investigation was separate from the immediate actions of the deputies at the scene.

Investigators would have to reconstruct what happened.

They would examine physical evidence.

They would consider witness statements.

They would review available video.

And they would work to establish the sequence of events leading to the shooting.

That process matters because the first minutes after an incident often produce incomplete information.

On May 7, early reports could only describe the basic facts.

A traffic stop.

A passenger who opened fire.

A deputy wounded.

A suspect killed.

A driver detained.

But the public still did not have the full picture.

Then came another development.

The dash-camera footage would eventually be released.

And suddenly, the public would be able to see much more of what had happened.

When the Video Was Released

A few days after the shooting, the Charleston County Sheriff's Office released dash-camera footage from the incident.

The video was difficult to watch.

It was not a polished news report.

It was not a dramatic recreation.

It was a police vehicle camera recording an encounter that suddenly became deadly.

The footage allowed viewers to see the stop before the gunfire.

It showed the deputies approaching the vehicle.

It showed the interaction with the occupants.

And then it showed the moment when the situation exploded.

For people who had only heard the initial reports, the footage changed the way the incident could be understood.

The video made one thing especially clear:

There was very little time between the warning signs and the shooting.

A conversation became a command.

The command became a warning.

The warning became gunfire.

And within moments, one person was dead and a deputy had been shot three times.

The video also showed the driver leaving the vehicle after the shooting.

Her reaction demonstrated another dimension of the incident.

She had been sitting inside a vehicle when the traffic stop began.

Minutes later, she was standing on the roadside while armed deputies responded to a deadly shooting.

What the Camera Could and Could Not Show

Video can be powerful.

But video also has limitations.

A dash camera provides only one perspective.

It cannot show everything that an officer sees.

It cannot necessarily reveal what a person inside a vehicle is thinking.

It cannot capture every sound or every movement outside its frame.

And it cannot automatically answer every question investigators may have.

That is why the footage became one piece of a larger investigation rather than the entire investigation itself.

The public could watch the confrontation.

Investigators had access to additional evidence.

SLED's role was to examine the officer-involved shooting independently.

The difference between those two perspectives is important.

A viewer sees seconds.

Investigators examine the entire sequence.

They look at what happened before the shooting, what happened during it, and what happened afterward.

The Deputies' Lives After That Day

For Deputy Cubbage, the incident did not simply end when he walked out of the hospital.

Being shot during a traffic stop is an event that can change the rest of a person's life.

For his fellow deputies, the memory of what happened would remain as well.

The two deputies had been placed on paid administrative leave following the shooting, consistent with agency protocol for officer-involved shootings.

Meanwhile, the investigation continued.

The public discussion surrounding the incident also continued.

People saw the footage.

News organizations reported the story.

Law enforcement officials discussed the dangers associated with traffic stops.

And the incident became a reminder of how quickly ordinary police work can turn into a life-threatening encounter.

For many people watching the video, the most difficult question was simple:

How could something that began as a traffic stop become this violent in only a few moments?

There is no single answer.

Traffic stops can involve uncertainty.

Officers may not know what is inside a vehicle.

They may not know the intentions of the people they are speaking with.

And sometimes, despite precautions and backup, events move faster than anyone can control.

A Recognition That Came Later

Months after the shooting, the story returned to public attention for a very different reason.

On January 25, 2024, Deputies Evan Cubbage and Alexander Hodge were awarded the South Carolina Sheriffs' Association Medal of Valor.

The South Carolina General Assembly later formally recognized the two deputies in a concurrent resolution adopted in January 2024.

The legislative resolution described the deputies' actions during the May 7 confrontation and noted that Cubbage had been shot while Hodge helped provide emergency medical assistance.

The recognition did not change what happened that afternoon.

It did, however, mark the event as something that had become part of the professional histories of both deputies.

For Cubbage, there was the physical reality of surviving three gunshot wounds.

For Hodge, there was the memory of arriving as backup and finding himself immediately in the middle of a gun battle.

And for both men, there was the knowledge that an ordinary traffic stop had nearly ended in tragedy.

The Seconds That Are Easy to Miss

When people watch dramatic police footage, attention naturally goes to the shooting.

The gunfire.

The movement.

The officers taking cover.

The suspect falling.

But sometimes the most important part of the story happens before the first shot.

It is the moment when an officer decides that something does not feel right.

It is the decision to request backup.

It is the decision to position another deputy nearby.

Those small choices may look insignificant when viewed separately.

In this case, they became part of the sequence that followed.

Cubbage did not handle the stop completely alone.

Hodge arrived.

And when the passenger produced a firearm, there were two deputies there to respond rather than one.

That does not erase the danger.

It does not make the outcome inevitable.

But it shows why the first few minutes of a traffic stop can matter so much.

The public often sees the final dramatic moment.

Law enforcement sees a chain of decisions that led there.

The Human Side of the Story

Behind every police video are people.

There is the officer.

There is the suspect.

There is the driver.

There are the families waiting for phone calls.

There are coworkers listening to radio traffic.

There are medical workers preparing for an injured patient.

And there are witnesses who may remember the sound of gunfire long after the police vehicles leave.

For Deputy Cubbage's family, May 7, 2023, became a day that could have ended very differently.

For Pierce's family, it became the day they lost a 28-year-old relative.

For the driver, it became a frightening memory of being caught inside a deadly confrontation.

And for the deputies who responded to the scene afterward, it became another reminder of how quickly a routine call can become a major emergency.

This is why the footage is more than just a dramatic video.

It is a record of a real event involving real people.

Watching it can be shocking.

But understanding what happened requires more than watching the loudest few seconds.

It requires following the entire sequence.

What Happened on Savannah Highway

If we step back and look at the entire timeline, the progression becomes clear.

A vehicle was stopped near Ravenel.

Deputy Evan Cubbage approached and spoke with the occupants.

He requested backup.

Deputy Alexander Hodge arrived.

Cubbage asked the male passenger to exit the vehicle.

A firearm appeared.

The passenger opened fire.

Cubbage was struck three times.

Both deputies returned fire.

The passenger, later identified as James Rakeem Pierce, was fatally shot.

The female driver exited the vehicle and was detained.

Cubbage was taken to the hospital.

Hodge remained at the scene.

SLED opened an investigation.

And days later, the public gained access to dash-camera footage showing the confrontation.

It is a sequence that can be summarized in a few sentences.

But watching the footage reveals how quickly those sentences became reality.

The Question That Remains

Perhaps the most unsettling lesson from this incident is how ordinary the beginning looked.

There was no dramatic warning.

No obvious sign that the road was about to become a crime scene.

No indication that a deputy would soon be fighting for his life.

That is what makes traffic stops so unpredictable.

For the people driving past that afternoon, it may have looked like another police vehicle behind another stopped car.

For the deputies, it was another call in a job filled with uncertainty.

But somewhere between the first conversation and the final gunshot, everything changed.

The road became a battlefield.

A deputy became a shooting victim.

A passenger became the subject of a fatal officer-involved shooting.

And a routine traffic stop became a case investigated by state authorities and remembered long after the emergency vehicles left.

The Footage Tells the Story Differently

News reports can describe an incident.

Official statements can explain the basic facts.

But video creates another layer.

It lets viewers see the timing.

It shows the distance between the people involved.

It reveals how quickly the deputies had to react.

And it gives the audience a much stronger sense of how sudden the confrontation really was.

That is why the released dash-camera recording attracted so much attention.

People were not simply hearing that a traffic stop became a shooting.

They could watch the transition happen.

They could see the calm before the violence.

Then they could see the moment when everything changed.

For viewers interested in police encounters, the footage also provides an opportunity to examine the sequence carefully rather than relying only on headlines.

What happened first?

How long did the deputies have to respond?

Where were the officers positioned?

How did the driver react?

How quickly did the situation move from conversation to gunfire?

Those questions become much easier to understand when the footage is viewed alongside the verified timeline of the incident.

The Final Chapter

The May 7, 2023 shooting in Ravenel did not begin as a major police operation.

It began with a vehicle being stopped.

But within minutes, Deputy Evan Cubbage had been shot three times, Deputy Alexander Hodge had been drawn into a deadly exchange, James Rakeem Pierce was dead, and a woman who had been driving the vehicle was being detained while investigators secured the scene.

Cubbage survived.

Hodge survived.

The investigation moved forward.

The dash-camera footage was eventually released.

And months later, the two deputies were recognized with the South Carolina Sheriffs' Association Medal of Valor.

Yet perhaps the most important part of the story remains those first few moments.

Because that is where the entire direction of the day changed.

A traffic stop is supposed to end with a warning, a citation, an arrest, or simply a driver getting back on the road.

This one ended with gunfire.

And that is why the footage remains so difficult to look away from.

It captures something that is impossible to recreate in a written report: the exact feeling of a situation changing before anyone has time to understand what is happening.

The scene begins quietly.

A deputy walks toward a vehicle.

A second deputy arrives.

A passenger begins to exit.

Then comes the warning.

Then the gunfire.

And suddenly, everything is different.

Watch the Video

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