AIKEN, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) – The man accused in an hourslong standoff that put schools on lockdown is the same man who was charged with hiding a gun after a 2 year old accidentally fatally shot himself in 2020.
Zaylan Paige, 20, was arrested Tuesday after the standoff in the 1000 block of Gentle Bend Court in Graniteville.
The standoff started after authorities got a report around noon about a disturbance at the home. An arriving deputy saw an assault occurring and the suspect fled inside the house and was believed to be armed, according to deputies.
Deputies came and surrounded the house, and nearby Leavelle McCampbell Middle School, Graniteville Elementary and Byrd Elementary were put on hard lockdown.
Paige was ultimately arrested.
It wasn’t his first clash with the law.
In July 2020, 2-year-old Jamarious Rogers died at Augusta University Medical Center just a few hours later after shooting himself in the upper body at a home on Gentle Bend Court.
In the incident report describing what happened when authorities were called after the shooting, a deputy wrote of finding the boy’s mother sitting on the roadway holding her son in her arms. The deputy could see that the boy was suffering a gunshot wound to the chest.
First responders arrived and began treating the victim.
The officer saw a man later identified as Paige, a resident of the home, “frantically running around the scene,” according to the report.
The officer asked him where the gun was, and he answered that it was his gun and it was gone, according to the report.
The 2020 arrest warrant alleges that Paige “did intentionally hide a handgun in the woods near Village West Lane, Graniteville, Aiken County, in an effort to prevent impede, or interfere with the administration of justice.” He hid the gun before authorities could process the crime scene and any potential evidence, according to the arrest warrant, which states that the information was obtained from Paige.
On Tuesday, the schools’ hard lockdown was ultimately scaled back to a soft lockdown so the kids could be sent home for the day. Authorities didn’t believe the kids were in danger but wanted to keep them inside for their own safety.
The lockdowns were unrelated to one at the same time at Aiken High School die to a bomb threat. No bomb was found, and two teenagers were arrested.
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