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One officer murdered, second officer injured while responding to “domestic disturbance”

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MYRTLE BEACH, SC – Two police officers from the Myrtle Beach Police Department were shot on the evening of October 3rd while responding to a domestic disturbance.

Reportedly, one officer was fatally shot while the other sustained non-life-threatening injuries. The suspect alleged to be the shooter was also killed during exchanged fire.

The MBPD officer was identified as PFC Jacob Hancher, who had served as a Community Service Officer for four years and a police officer for under one year.

Officer Hancher was alongside an unidentified officer when responding to a domestic disturbance call around 400 block of 14th Avenue South in Myrtle Beach at approximately 10:00 p.m. on October 3rd.

When the officers arrived on the scene, they had reportedly encountered an armed man and a series of gunshots were exchanged, which led to Officer Hancher being killed.

Details regarding the suspect killed during the police encounter have yet to be revealed, nor has the events that unfolded been explained in great detail as the investigation is so early.

Footage obtained from the scene shortly after the shooting showcased a heavy police presence, as seen in the video below.

MBPD Chief Amy Prock held a press briefing hours after the shooting took place, delivering the news to the community of Officer Hancher’s passing.

Chief Prock noted that Officer Hancher “was a dedicated public servant who upheld his oath to protect this community and made the ultimate sacrifice.”

Outside of Officer Hancher’s work with the MBPD, he was reportedly also a volunteer firefighter for Horry County Fire Rescue.

We at Law Enforcement Today will continue to provide updates on this story as more details are revealed regarding the nature of the call officers were dispatched to initially and information on the deceased suspect involved in the case.

In the meantime, further north, a man who shot an officer in the head is out of prison yet again.

Repeat offender Tyquan Rivera, 26, of Rochester was arrested again for a number of drug charges in addition to multiple vehicle and traffic violations in a state that enacted bail reform laws.

On Friday afternoon, New York State Police (NYSP) arrested Rivera, who was in possession of fentanyl, crack, cocaine and $11,000 in cash.

“Rivera was charged for Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 3rd Degree (2 counts), Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 4th (2 counts), Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 7th. Degree, and numerous Vehicle and traffic violations,” NYSP said.

This was not Rivera’s first encounter with the law.

Rivera was arrested in 2009 for shooting Rochester Police Officer Anthony DiPonzio in the head when he was 14 years old, according to WROC. He was sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in prison for the shooting.

DiPonzio, who was 24 at the time of the shooting, went through intensive rehabilitation before returning to work in November 2011, according to the Democrat & Chronicle.

Rivera was released from prison in 2016, but arrested again in 2017 for a parole violation. He was then released in February 2019 after serving the maximum amount of time he could be incarcerated.

In December 2019, Rivera was arrested along with four others, each of whom were charged with possession of narcotics with the intent to sell. Prosecutors did not say how the five were connected.

At the time of his Dec. 19 arrest, bail had been set at $25,000 cash or $100,000 bond since it was prior to the new bail laws going into effect.

However, Rivera was released in January due to New York State’s new bail reform laws that took effect Jan. 1 and mandated inmates being held for misdemeanors and certain felonies would not be required to post bail.

In addition, the bail reform laws became retroactive, so inmates locked up for similar crimes were required to be freed as well, and an estimated 250 inmates were going to have their jail restrictions removed, according to WHAM.

Assistant District Attorney Matt Schwartz said in January that these laws allowed Rivera to be released despite also being charged with six counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, five counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree and one count of conspiracy in the fourth degree for allegedly selling Fentanyl to undercover officers on multiple occasions:

“Our hands are certainly tied. This is someone who’s previously been convicted of shooting a police officer, who has a prior violent felony conviction on his record, who is currently facing allegations of selling Fentanyl to an undercover police officer, who faces a minimum of six years and a maximum of 15 years if he’s convicted of these new drug charges.

“And it’s rather disturbing that someone in that situation is automatically released by virtue of this new law.”

Rivera’s attorney, Jim Napier, explained how the bail reform law affected his client:

“It’s a new law, and the judge does have some discretion in setting conditions of release – although the law does require that Mr. Rivera be released and that the judge could not set cash bail, but he could set certain conditions of release, which he did do, and so we did not have an objection with those conditions of release.”

According to CNY Central, Judge Sam Valleriani ruled Rivera would be required to surrender his passport and wear an electronic monitoring bracelet. He also would be required to meet with pre-trial services.

While some people have claimed bail reform laws do not release violent offenders, CBS2 released a shockingly long list of crimes that fall under it and contradict what some are claiming.

Some of the crimes CBS2 noted that make a criminal eligible for release include:

• Criminal injection of a controlled substance into another person
• 3rd degree Assault
• Reckless Assault of a child
• Aggravated Vehicular Assault
• 1st degree Stalking while committing a sex offense
• Criminal Obstruction of Breathing
• Criminally Negligent Homicide
• 2nd degree Manslaughter
• Tampering with a consumer product (multiple counts)
• 3rd degree Arson
• Killing a Police Dog or Police Horse
• Obstructing emergency medical services
• Obstructing governmental services with a bomb
• Riot (multiple counts)
• Criminal Anarchy
• Pointing a laser at an aircraft (multiple counts)
• Harming a service animal (multiple counts)
• Endangering the welfare of a child
• Assisting in female genital mutilation
• Endangering the welfare of an incompetent or physically disabled person
• Endangering the welfare of a vulnerable elderly person
• Endangering the welfare of a disabled person (multiple counts)
• Promoting an obscene sexual performance by a child
• Possession of an obscene sexual performance by a child
• Promoting a sexual performance by a child
• Possessing a sexual performance by a child
• Aggravated Labor Trafficking
• Reckless Endangerment of property
• Stalking (multiple counts)
• Promoting a suicide attempt.

Prior to the bail reform laws taking effect, New York Police Department Commissioner Dermot Shea told CBS2:

“It’s concerning. We’re going to have to work harder than ever with our partners, with our fellow district attorneys, to prosecute these crimes to make sure that we are on top of our game.

“When you have individuals that are standing before a judge and immediately being released, and essentially everyone in the room knows that this person is a danger to the community, I think we need to look at the system and make sure that judges can make common sense decisions.”

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About The Author

Gregory Hoyt is an I.T. Marketing and Sales professional based out in Sierra Vista, Arizona. While being a staunch and outspoken advocate of law enforcement and first responders, Gregory Hoyt also has the experience of having spent nearly 5 years in prison as well. Since then, he's used his unique perspective to offer support and commentary about the criminal justice system. When not working or combating bad ideas, Hoyt also leisurely studies economics, history, and law.

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