Estate Planning Attorney in Fort Mill, SC

York County Sheriff Tony Breeden has requested for SLED to investigate the incident.

FORT MILL, S.C. — An investigation has been launched after the York County Sheriff's Office said a deputy fired at a person they said charged at the deputy while armed with a knife Friday morning.

That person has been identified as Allan Josue Topete-Guevara, according to York County deputies.

The office said deputies responded to a home along Pine Ridge Court in Fort Mill around 9:20 a.m. after it was reported a person was in a home unconscious and not breathing. However, deputies said they arrived to find the person conscious and armed with a knife.

The sheriff's office then said the person barricaded themself in a room. One deputy ordered the Topete-Guevara to put the knife down and leave the room. However, the sheriff's office said he refused to do so after opening the door.

At that point, the sheriff's office said Topete-Guevara charged at the deputy. The deputy then fired his weapon, killing him.

No deputies reported injuries.

The sheriff's office noted that Sheriff Tony Breeden has requested the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) to investigate, and said further information would come from that agency. The deputy, who has also not been identified, is now on paid administrative leave.

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Tradition Never Graduates.

That’s definitely a mantra Fort Mill wrestling can take after the Yellow Jackets fourth straight state championship after a dominating 52-11 victory over Lugoff-Elgin Wednesday night in the Class 5A, Division II state championship at White Knoll High School.

Fort Mill senior Lincoln Greene, who earned a 16-0 technical fall victory in the 157-pound weight class, has been a part of that dynasty the entire time. He wanted to go out the same way the seniors went out when he was a freshman and just learning the ropes.

“When I came in as a freshman, my whole class, all we know is winning state championships,” Greene said. “But that started with the seniors when I was a freshman. I wanted to be like that and be a huge role model to all the underclassmen. They’re the future of this program, and it means a lot to show them how to grind it out every single day. It shows all our hard work pays off. It’s absolutely amazing.”

You will not get an argument from Lugoff-Elgin coach Ted Monroe that his team faced the best the state has to offer.

Fort Mill (31-0) only lost three dual matches over the course of four seasons, and the Yellow Jackets completed a second straight undefeated season in grand fashion.

“They’re the best team in South Carolina in all classifications,” Monroe said.

It would be hard to argue that point.

The two teams came into the finals ranked No. 1 and 2 in the SCMat.com polls, but there was a big difference between the top spot and second place. The championship was the third meeting between the schools with Fort Mill winning 44-18 on Nov. 22 and 54-19 on Dec. 16. The championship was more of the same.

The dual started at the 132-pound weight class and Tyler McChesney got the Demons off to a good start with an 8-4 victory. But Fort Mill got things rolling after that.

Cooper Van Beynum (138), Jayden Nguyen (144), Keenan Coston (150), Greene (157) and Broden Mitcheson (165) ripped off wins to make it 22-3. Lugoff-Elgin’s Jakaleb Robinson stopped the momentum for a short time with a 13-3 win at the 175-pound weight class to make it 22-7.

Maurice Lawrence (190) won for the Yellow Jackets before Logan Hinton (215) gave the Demons its final points of the night. Krystian Villatoro scored a first quarter pin at 285 to put Fort Mill on the brink of the title before Peter Escudero (106) clinched the match with a 19-4 decision that gave the Yellow Jackets a 38-11 lead. Morrison Murphy (113), Luke Van Beynum (120) and Grayson Wallen (120) each claimed wins to round out the victory.

“These guys have just continued to get better every day, every opportunity they have to get better, they continue to get better,” Fort Mill coach Adam Marullo said. “Obviously, the team state championship is done, but we still have two tournaments to wrestle. We’re going to continue to get better over the next couple of days and coming weeks.”

This is the fourth straight season Lugoff-Elgin has lost in the finals. The Demons last won a state championship in 2010.

“We don’t have anything to be ashamed of. We finished the season 40-3 with all three losses to Fort Mill,” Monroe said. “We didn’t wrestle well tonight. It was a snowball effect. We had one or two, we had a chance to win early on that got away from us. We had that deer in the headline look and we’re not used to having that. I don’t think it was an effort problem; it was an execution problem. We have to lick our wounds and get ready for individuals.”

SCHSL Wrestling Championships

Class 5A Division I

At Lexington High School

Clover 34, James Island 31

Class 5A Division II Boys

At White Knoll HS

Fort Mill 52, Lugoff-Elgin 11

Class 4A

At Gilbert HS

May River 31, Travelers Rest 29

Class 3A

At Lexington HS

West-Oak 54, Hanahan 15

Class 2A Boys

At White Knoll HS

Chesnee 70, Edisto 12

Fort Mill bought a large, vacant property of Interstate 77 that could become a recreational hub for the town. It’s too soon, however, to know exactly what it’ll add.

“Land in Fort Mill, it is not getting any easier to find,” said Mayor Guynn Savage in an interview Tuesday with The Herald. “We felt the need to act on this one.”

The town bought the more than 50-acre site Feb. 5 for $7.8 million, county land records show. The property had belonged to North Carolina not-for-profit hospital network Novant Health for two decades.

The site is on the east side of the interstate, just north of the Sutton Road interchange between the interstate and U.S. 21 Bypass. Nearby properties include the Traditions at Fort Mill senior apartments, a small retail center and a Piedmont Urgent Care.

The purchase follows a year of recreation site and trail master plans that identified a need for more field or open spaces.

Rather than wait for a dire need, the town opted to buy and bank the property for future use. It’ll take time to figure out what will go on the new site.

Groundbreaking isn’t expected for more than a year, Savage said.

“What we did was make a strategic purchase of land where, if we had let it go, it might have turned into something else and we would have lost the opportunity,” she said.

The property will be paid for through a mix of municipal funding options, the mayor said. More land purchases could follow.

At the height of the town’s growth phase, developers asking to build hundreds or thousands of homes might donate land for a park. That’s how the town got Banks Athletic Park at Waterside at the Catawba, and 60 acres on the Catawba River near Elizabeth.

“We have been saying no a lot in the recent past to a lot of development,” Savage said. “Land banking is something you should expect out of us, because I really don’t see us saying yes as often as we have in the past.”

The sale happened three weeks after the town bought 7 acres beside Doby Bridge Park from the developers of Catawba Ridge Market. The town paid $500,000 for that property on Jan. 15, with plans to expand the park.

Fort Mill land sale happens amid hospital changes

The most recent property sale also answers the question of what Novant Health might do with the property, at a time when more hospitals and medical facilities are being built.

The sale comes amid significant healthcare changes across York County, and particularly in Fort Mill.

Last spring, Charlotte-based nonprofit hospital system Atrium Health bought the longtime community rescue squad Fort Mill EMS to start running its ambulance service. In December, Atrium laid out $450 million plans to build a Fort Mill hospital.

Piedmont Medical Center runs the only two hospitals in York County today, including Piedmont Medical Center-Fort Mill that opened four years ago. Piedmont took over River Hills/Lake Wylie EMS, the other main York County volunteer unit for decades along with Fort Mill EMS, on Feb. 2.

The Medical University of South Carolina has a hospital under construction in Indian Land, and other medical facilities are planned by various providers. Piedmont has a freestanding emergency room under construction in Indian Land.

Now that the town owns the acreage off the interstate, leaders will rely heavily on the recent parks at trail master plans as their form of public input on what should go on the site.

ROCK HILL — As the second winter storm in the span of two weeks passed through Rock Hill and York County on Jan. 31, it dropped at least 6 inches of snow across much of the area.

Accumulations totals released by the National Weather Service Greenville-Spartanburg on Feb. 1 show accumulations on the low end ranging from 4 inches about one mile south of Rock Hill to about 7 inches in parts of Rock Hill, Tega Cay and Fort Mill.

The northernmost parts of the county saw the highest snowfall totals, with 9 inches recorded in Clover and north of Fort Mill, and 10 inches recorded at Lake Wylie — the highest total in York County.

Across the state line in the Charlotte metro area, parts of Mecklenburg and Gaston counties saw up to 1 foot of snow, and Cabarrus County had the highest totals of up to 16 inches.

Thomas Winesett, a meteorologist for the weather service’s Greenville-Spartanburg office, said those accumulation totals were on par with expectations.

“We were looking at that general 6-to-10 inch range across the county in the forecast,” Winesett said.

The NWS knew there would be a focused band of heavier snowfall in the area, he said. It was unknown where exactly it would set up, but locally heavier totals would fall within it.

“Part of that band, the southern part of it, kind of drifted across northeast York County,” Winesett said. “That’s what laid down some of those higher totals north of Rock Hill. That band was what was responsible for the foot-plus totals in parts of Charlotte.”

York County receives an average of about 4 inches of snow per year, Winesett said, so this snowstorm well surpassed that.

But averages don’t always tell the full story.

“It’s trickier with those averages because you can have some winters, like the last couple, where hardly anything happens,” Winesett said. “Then you can have a winter like this one.”

Averaging the uneventful years with those that have monumental winter storms leads to deceivingly low numbers.

“It’s not hard to have a snowier than average winter because all it takes is literally one storm like we just had, and now you had double the average snow,” Winesett said.

The last time a storm brought up to 10 inches of snow to the Charlotte area, Winesett said, was in 2004.

Plenty of snow remained on Feb. 1 as high temperatures hovered just above freezing, but temperatures were set to reach the 40s on Feb. 2 before again dipping below freezing overnight.

Main roads have been cleared in Rock Hill, but secondary roads and shaded roads across the county will remain hazardous as melting and refreezing occurs.

“With the amount of snow that fell, it’s going to stick around for a little while, especially in shaded locations,” Winesett said.

A blast of Arctic air collided with an offshore low pressure system to give the usually balmy state of South Carolina – whose capital boasts of being “famously hot” – a rare winter snowstorm this weekend.

The system – which came on the heels of an underwhelming ice storm last weekend – dropped measurable snow in nearly every corner of the Palmetto State, from the marshes of the Lowcountry to the mountains of the Upstate.

Totals varied wildly – even totals within the same metropolitan areas – with the heaviest snowfall reported in the northern and northeastern parts of the state in counties located along the North Carolina border.

Was this winter whiteout as significant a storm as the ‘Big Snow’ of 1973? Not hardly… but some areas of the state did see significant accumulation.

According to one report, Lake View, S.C. – a town in Dillon County located less than two miles from the North Carolina border – received 12″ of snow, the highest total we’ve seen reported anywhere in the Palmetto State. Another report from the Mount Calvary region of Dillon County noted 9.2″ of accumulation. In Jefferson, S.C., located in western Chesterfield County, 8.9″ of snow was reported.

An official measurement from Fort Mill, S.C. came in at 7.5″, but last night residents reported they were approaching a foot of snow – with the white stuff still falling.

Still snowing as of 8:30pm in Fort Mill, South Carolina.Will we reach a foot of snow? We’re very close!!! #scwx pic.twitter.com/yWHlvdTTfG

— Kelly McCarty (@KellyLMcCarty) February 1, 2026

In rural Chesterfield County, centered approximately 55 miles southeast of Charlotte, one observer reported snowfall of 8.9″. In Rock Hill, S.C., 6.8″ was reported.

In the Upstate, one observer reported 7″ of accumulation in Moore, S.C., a town located just eight miles south-southwest of Spartanburg – while 6.7″ was reported in Woodruff, S.C., seven miles southwest of Moore. In another Spartanburg County location, one trained spotter reported 6″ of accumulation, while Campobello, S.C. – also in Spartanburg County – reportedly got 5″ of snow.

Snow totals were lower in the Midlands region of the state. Approximately 4.3” was reported in White Rock, S.C. – located in northern Richland County – while one measurement from Blythewood, S.C. (located in Fairfield County) recorded 3.8″ of snow. One report from rural Lexington County also measured 3″ of accumulation.

Still, measurable white stuff made its way deep into the southern portion of the state.

In the Lowcountry, Sangaree, S.C. – located three miles east of Summerville – reported receiving 2.9″, while Summerville itself saw 1.5″.

Bluffton, S.C. reportedly saw 2.5″, while Okatie, S.C. – located approximately 17 miles northwest of Savannah in Jasper County – also reported 2.5″.

West Ashley – just east of downtown Charleston – reported receiving 1″ of snow, as did Ruffin, S.C., a town in Colleton County located approximately 50 miles west-northwest of Charleston. Moncks Corner, S.C. also reported receiving an inch of snow.

Further up the coast, the amounts were much more significant. Myrtle Beach, S.C. saw varying amounts of snow depending on where measurements were recorded – with one report citing 2.9″, another 4.5″ and yet another 6″. In North Myrtle Beach, S.C., 8″ of snow was reported while 7.7″ of accumulation was reported nine miles north in Longs, S.C.

These areas were much closer to the center of low pressure fueling the snowfall.

Looking inland, Mullins, S.C. – located approximately 42 miles northwest of the Grand Strand in Marion County – reportedly received 8″ of snow. Clyde, S.C. – located 27 miles northwest of Florence in Darlington County – reported 6″ of snow. Meanwhile, Scranton, S.C., located approximately 20 miles south of Florence, reported receiving 5.5″ of snow.

Roads are tricky to navigate when there is snow. If it’s not essential, don’t get on the road. Stay home. Remember, bridges, overpasses, and roads less traveled freeze first. Avoid driving if possible.If you must drive, reduce your speed and avoid sudden braking. pic.twitter.com/6ifukPlXMf

— SC Emergency Management Division (@SCEMD) February 1, 2026

For many regions of the Palmetto State – particularly the Midlands – these were the first meaningful snow accumulations in more than a decade-and-a-half.

Still, the numbers failed to generate the high-end snowfall totals many forecasters had touted, as South Carolina-based weather analyst Mitch West noted.

“This storm, like last January, had a lot more potential for us but we fell short again,” West wrote on X.

And as soon as the white stuff arrived, it started to melt…

????? It's melting!!!! Bummer indeed for countless kids out there who were having a blast in the snow… #SCWX #Wintermageddon2 pic.twitter.com/JgWs4jz6CT

— FITSNews (@fitsnews) February 1, 2026

February is projected to be another cold month in the south, though, with another winter storm over the next few weeks remaining a distinct possibility.

“February is back to the old ways,” West stated. “The South will have another winter storm threat before the end of the month. It’s just a matter of when.”

Keep it tuned to FITSNews as we continue to cover the fallout from South Carolina’s second winter storm in as many weeks… and keep our eye on

is the founding editor of the news outlet you are currently reading. Prior to founding FITSNews, he served as press secretary to the governor of South Carolina. He lives in the Midlands region of the state with his wife and eight children.

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