Police officer charged in deadly weekend shooting bonds out

GEORGETOWN, S.C. (WCSC) - A police officer who was charged in a shooting that left a Hemingway man dead in Georgetown County bonded out on Thursday morning.

Cassandra Dollard is charged with voluntary manslaughter in connection with the death of 46-year-old Robert Langley in an officer-involved shooting, according to the State Law Enforcement Division, which was called in to investigate the shooting.

A judge set bond at $150,000 on the charge. According to court records, Dollard bonded out following her hearing.

During the bond hearing, Dollard’s attorney asked for a modest bond while the solicitor argued Dollard could be a flight risk.

The solicitor asked the judge for a substantial bond for Dollard, saying the chase ended almost nine miles outside of Dollard’s jurisdiction and reached a maximum speed, according to dashcam video, of 127 mph.

The solicitor told the court Dollard thought she saw something in Langley’s hand, possibly a weapon.

Attorney Bakari Sellers, who is representing Langley’s family, said Langley did not have a weapon and characterized Dollard’s actions that night as a failure by the entire system, citing her law enforcement career history that included two previous terminations. Sellers asked the judge to order that Dollard not contact the family directly or indirectly, and make no statements, including on social media, as a condition for any bond granted for her.

“When they called and told me he was killed unjustified, it killed me and his family,” Langley’s mother, Roslynn Langley, said. “Nobody understands what I’m going through right now. My son meant the world to me.”

She asked the judge to impose the highest bond possible.

Dollard was arrested Wednesday in Berkeley County and taken to the Georgetown County Detention Center for Thursday morning’s bond hearing.

The charge stems from an officer-involved shooting early Sunday morning. The State Law Enforcement Division, which is investigating the incident, said it began with a chase in Hemingway that continued through Williamsburg County, into Georgetown County and ended in a crash.

The Georgetown County Coroner’s Office said Langley died after being shot Sunday morning. An autopsy for him is scheduled for Friday at MUSC.

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