A Gaston man died after exchanging gunfire with Lexington County deputies early Friday morning.

According to Coroner Fisher, Chad Willis Huggins, 28, of Gaston was pronounced dead Sept. 27 from a gunshot wound.

“The sequence of events started just before 2 am at a truck stop off I-20,” Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said. “We received a call about a domestic dispute in which a man was holding a gun to a woman’s head and attempting to take her vehicle.

“The man got away in the woman’s car before we arrived so we started looking for it in the area,” Koon said.

Reports say the suspect was the victim’s ex-boyfriend.

Deputies made contact with the vehicle several miles away and attempted to initiate a traffic stop, according to Koon.

The suspect turned down Seleta Circle and eventually got out of his car and fired multiple shots toward deputies as he ran toward a house.

Deputies returned fire, striking the suspect before going inside the house to render aid, Koon said.

“As is standard procedure in these situations, we’ve placed the deputy involved in the shooting on paid administrative leave while we conduct an internal review,” Koon said.

SC Law Enforcement Division is investigating the incident, as is standard procedure when there is an officer-involved shooting.

This was the 35th officer-involved shooting in the state in 2019 and the second this year involving the Lexington County Sheriffs Department.

In 2018, there were 43 officer-involved shootings in South Carolina. 3 involved the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department.