NEWBERRY COUNTY — Demenous Quinard Bookman, 35, has been identified as the suspect in the Feb. 14 domestic issue involving a firearm.
According to Sheriff Lee Foster, Bookman is being held at the Newberry County Detention Center on pending charges of attempted murder, breach of peace of a high and aggravated nature, pointing and presenting a firearm, possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime and unlawful possession of a firearm.
Once the warrants are served on Bookman, he will go before a Newberry County Magistrate for a bond hearing.
According to the Newberry County Sheriff’s Office, at 1:21 p.m. on Feb. 14, a domestic issue involving a firearm at the intersection of Candy Kitchen Road and US 76 prompted a lockdown at Mid Carolina High/Middle and Prosperity-Rikard. Two people were involved in a domestic incident and they said the male partner pulled out a long gun and fired.
“That suspect fled into the woods. Area schools were put on alert. As the Newberry County Sheriff’s Office tracking team was running a track, a resident reported seeing a suspect matching the description on Wessinger Drive in Prosperity. The schools were put on lockdown at this point. The tracking team went immediately to that location and found the suspect in a wooded area. The schools resumed normal operations at approximately 2:00 p.m. No one was injured in this event and the schools performed beyond expectations,” stated the NCSO release.
Foster said: “We are sorry we had to go through a lockdown and concern students, parents and teachers. However, poor choices on the suspect’s part prompted us to take preventative measures.”
Per the NCSO, Bookman has a criminal history of convictions for assault and battery third degree 03/12/2014, assault and battery second degree 10/09/2017, domestic violence third degree 11/18/2019 and domestic violence second degree 03/03/2020.