BAMBERG, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) – An Augusta man previously convicted in the 2023 shooting of a South Carolina Highway Patrol trooper in Bamberg County has pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Derrick Gathers was previously convicted in May of 2025 of attempted murder, possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime and failure to stop for a blue light.
The shooting around 3:30 a.m. April 16, 2023, wounded Lance Cpl. B.A. Frazier on the right side of his face after he pulled over a vehicle on U.S. 78 in Bamberg County for a speeding violation.
The trooper and a deputy returned fire, striking the vehicle as Gathers drove away, according to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division…