'Lost the bravest police officer I have ever known': 7 officers shot, 1 killed, in South Carolina

Authorities say the incident unfolded around 4 p.m. as sheriff’s deputies were trying to serve a warrant in the town of Florence.

The man inside the home opened fire, according to Maj. Mike Nunn, a spokesperson with the Sheriff's Office.

Officials said four Florence police officers and three Florence County deputies were shot. The officer who died was with the Florence Police Department.

"Lost the bravest police officer that I have ever known," Florence Police Chief Allen Heidler said.

Officers said the suspect barricaded himself in the home for two hours with children inside.

Florence County Coroner Keith von Lutcken said the dead officer was a member of the Florence city police department.

According to initial reports, the officers were shot in what is being described as an “active shooter situation.”

"Reassured in knowledge that officer that passed were so doing what they loved, protecting this community," Florence Mayor Stephen Wukela said.

Wukela insisted there were no more threats against the Florence community.

"Safe because of those officers and deputies who are willing to put themselves in harm’s way," he said.

John Wukela, a city spokesman for the city, says city police, working with the sheriff's office, were responding to an incident in the area when they came under fire.

Thom Berry, spokesman for the State Law Enforcement Division, said the agency had sent crime scene technicians to assist officials in Florence but at this time had not been requested to help with any investigation.

Authorities said the shootings happened in Vintage Place, an upscale neighborhood in the western part of the city.

Florence, a city in South Carolina's northeastern corner home to roughly 37,000, sits at the convergence of Interstates 95 and 20. It's the largest city in the region known as the Pee Dee, an area recently affected by heavy flooding in the wake of Hurricane Florence.