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3-hour documentary marks anniversary of deadly York County ambush

 

(Sgt. Mike Doty, Sgt. Randy Clinton, Sgt. Buddy Brown, Sgt. Kyle Cummings)

YORK COUNTY, S.C. — Tuesday night marked one year to the day that a 911 call set in motion the events of an ambush that resulted in the death of one deputy and the wounding of three others in York County.

The shooting resulted in the death of Detective Mike Doty.

The Sheriff's Office is marking the tragedy by releasing the first in a three-part documentary series.

[MORE: York County Sheriff's Office marks ambush anniversary with emotional videos]

In the hour-long videos posted on YouTube, some of the officers opened up about what they witnessed during the ambush.

"It's a way to get the story from the officers' mouths unedited - not editorialized, not a Q & A - just them sitting down and telling it open-ended," York County Sheriff Kevin Tolson said.

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Doty was killed and three others hurt in a pair of ambushes. Christian McCall ran into the woods with a pistol and a rifle, a knife, a hatchet and six 30-round magazines of ammunition after beating his wife of about 20 years on Jan. 15, 2018, authorities said.

McCall first shot an officer using a dog to track him, Sgt. Randy Clinton. He then hid under a deck and shot Doty and two others -- Sgt. Kyle Cummings and Sgt. Buddy Brown.

One unidentified officer said in the documentary previews that McCall could have shot even more.

The documentary will use 911 calls, police radio traffic, and dramatic night-vision footage from helicopters showing officers drag their wounded colleagues to ambulances along with interviews with at least a dozen officers, Tolson said.

All the footage used has already been released to the public, and Tolson said most of it was shown in court when McCall, who had a spotless criminal record for two decades, pleaded guilty to murder and other charges in May just four months after the ambush and was sentenced to life in prison.

"You'll see a little bit of emotion," said Tolson. "But you'll also see the healing."

On Monday, Channel 9 reported that Clinton returned to work. He is a K-9 handler with decades of experience, and was reunited his K-9 partner, Gabby.

Clinton was shot in the leg and hip and has spent the last year recovering at home.

He's the last of the officers to return to work. Brown returned to the Sheriff's Office and Cummings returned to the York Police Department last year.

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