Corporal Richard Varn Woods

Richard Varn Woods

Corporal Richard Varn Woods was shot and killed near Beaufort Marine Corps Air Station while attempting to arrest three robbery suspects.

The shooting occurred as he attempted to stop a vehicle for speeding. Unbeknownst to Woods, the occupants had just committed an armed robbery. Trooper Woods died from his wounds four days later.

The suspect was extradited to South Carolina from Georgia in 1985 to continue his life sentence after escaping in 1971. The murderer was denied parole for the seventh time in March 2004 and later died in prison on May 11, 2008.

Corporal Woods served with the South Carolina Highway Patrol for nine years. He was survived by his wife and two children.