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A South Carolina sheriff said a "miracle" saved the life of a deputy who was shot in the head in the line of duty last week.

Oconee County Sheriff's Office (OCSO) Corporal Lucas Watts was critically wounded amid gunfire as he was making a traffic stop on South Highway 11 in Oconee County, Thursday afternoon.

Gregory Wayne Maxwell, 50, is facing charges after Greenville County investigators found that he shot Watts and engaged in a shootout with deputies afterward, including five counts of attempted murder, according to a statement from the Greenville County Sheriff's Office (GCSO).

"Maxwell remains in custody at the hospital due to sustaining injuries from at least one gunshot wound from law enforcement," GCSO said in a statement. "Following a potential discharge from the hospital Maxwell will be arraigned by an Oconee County Magistrate and formally charged."

Newsweek reached out via email on Tuesday night for comment.

Oconee County Sheriff Mike Crenshaw, speaking at Westminster First Baptist Church on Sunday morning, provided an update on Watts and recounted what he had witnessed at the hospital on Thursday.

Crenshaw said he saw "a dead man come back to life," according to a video of the sheriff's roughly 10-minute remarks on Sunday shared on Facebook by the United Way of Oconee County.

"Just so you all understand the significance of his injuries, I'm not talking about a grazing wound to the head," Crenshaw said. "I'm talking about a bullet to his brain so that you understand just how significant his injury was. I didn't share that with my folks on the scene, it wasn't the time."

Due to the location where the shooting occurred, Crenshaw said it would have taken an ambulance more than 30 minutes to get there, so deputies loaded Watts into the bed of a pickup truck and drove him to a nearby fire station. The deputy was too unstable to be transported via helicopter, so he was rushed via ambulance to Greenville Memorial Hospital.

While Crenshaw was at the shooting scene, he told Newsweek in an interview on Thursday that he got a call that he was needed at the hospital, so he left immediately and made the hour drive to the hospital.

"Lucas suffered a penetrating wound," Crenshaw said. "He never communicated or had any movement in his body after he was shot. He is examined and scans are done on his head. The doctors told us his wound was not survivable."

Watts' wife, who recently gave birth to their baby, told the sheriff she needed to see her husband.

"They allow her to go see him," Crenshaw said. "The family tells me once she touched his chest, he started moving and a tear rolled down his face."

Watts was then rushed into a "very risky surgery" as Crenshaw said sheriffs from across the state were texting him saying they were praying.

"At this point, about 2.5 hours have passed since he was shot," the sheriff said. "He makes it through surgery and his vitals are stable. On Friday, he can't talk because of tubes down his throat but responds to verbal commands such as squeezing the doctor's hand and moving extremities when asked to do so. This is why I believe this was a miracle."

He said that he didn't realize at the time but social media had "blown up," with people saying that they were praying for Watts.

"I saw a dead man come back to life," Crenshaw said. "Because of God, and because of intervening prayer, I really believe."

The deputy is in critical but stable condition, Crenshaw said.

"I don't know what tomorrow holds, but I'm telling you, God performed a miracle Thursday night in Greenville, South Carolina," Crenshaw said. "I've got no doubt in my mind."

The sheriff said he had never experienced "anything even close to this" in his 37-year career in law enforcement.

"Medically, the surgeon said they were sorry and nothing they could do," he said. "Remember, at least 2.5 hours had passed with no movement in his body. While I have felt God lead me in a certain direction before through prayer, I have never felt God's presence like I did last Saturday morning."

An update on Watts' condition, shared on Monday by the family on the website CaringBridge, said he "continues to make slow progress."

Watts joined OCSO in 2020 and was previously with the Anderson County Sheriff's Office, where he served for more than two years. Watts currently works with the Pro-Active Community Enforcement team and the Marine Unit with Oconee County, according to a statement by OCSO.

Crenshaw set up a support fund for Watts and his family through Serve and Connect, a nonprofit in Columbia, South Carolina, focused on building sustainable police-community relationships. The fund has already raised more than $142,000 as of Tuesday night.

Watts and his wife welcomed their first child in September, the fund description states.

Update 11/25 /2023, 11:05 p.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Crenshaw.

Uncommon Knowledge

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

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