Off-duty officer fired for pointing gun at teens

BEAUFORT, S.C. – An off-duty Beaufort County officer, who was captured on video pointing a gun at a group of teens last weekend, has been fired.

Former Master Sergeant William Squires was a 19-year veteran. According to the sheriff, he was fired for code of conduct failure and for a variety of policy violations.

In video, you see the deputy wearing a bulletproof vest, pointing his gun and telling three teenagers to get on the ground.

Neighbors say the deputy was called out there by someone, but they weren’t sure what led up to him needing to be called. 

The deputy then starts to grab a nearby backpack, and one of the teens is then seen going after it when the deputy starts to look inside and is then joined by another teen who pushes the deputy.

That is when the deputy pulls out his gun and pointed it at the teens. 

The sheriff’s office has asked the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division to investigate this incident for any possible criminal violations.

According to the sheriff, more consequences may be coming depending on the findings of the SLED investigation.