06/15/2026
Deputy Clayton Kirby Woods
Laurens County Sheriff’s Office
End of Watch: June 15, 1971
Clayton Kirby Woods was born on November 11, 1932, to W.A. and Sara Kirby Woods. He grew up in Princeton with two brothers and a sister. His parents worked in the textile industry. Clayton never married and lived with his mother. He worked for the Riegel Textile Corporation in Ware Shoals for 15 years. When his department in the mill was shut down, he went to work for the Parker-White Funeral Home.
Laurens County Sheriff Eugene Johnson knew Clayton to be a levelheaded, good Christian man, so he offered Clayton a job with the Sheriff’s Office.
Woods joined the Laurens County Sheriff’s Office in October of 1970.
At around 6:30 in the evening on Tuesday, June 15, 1971, Deputy Woods, along with Deputy Sam Bishop and Gray Court Police Chief Wade Grant went to serve a warrant on Essau Luster, Jr. at his home in Gray Court. The warrant charged that Luster had discharged a firearm into a dwelling. As the officers stepped up to the porch of the small white framed house, a double barrel shotgun broke through the window to the left of the door from inside and fired. The first blast struck Deputy Woods in the face. Additional shots struck Deputy Bishop and Chief Grant. After Deputy Bishop was hit in the upper torso, he moved to the house next door and returned fire. Shotgun pellets struck Chief Grant in the right arm, neck, and stomach. Several pellets penetrated his hat, with one grazing his skull. As Chief Grant ran to his police car in the yard, he drew his pistol with his left hand and returned fire at Luster. As Chief Grant radioed for help, a shotgun blast blew out the windshield in the patrol car. As Luster moved from window to window, Chief Grant retreated to the rear of his patrol car, and they continued to exchange gunfire. Sheriff Eugene Johnson was driving in the area and responded minutes later. Laurens Mayor, Dr. Julian E. Atkinson heard the radio call and arrived shortly after Sheriff Johnson. As the gunbattle continued, Dr. Anderson could see that Deputy Woods was bleeding to death at the bottom of the steps, in front of the house. When the ambulance arrived on the scene, Sheriff Johnson told the other officers to cover them as he and Dr. Atkinson moved to recover Deputy Woods. As they ran across the open yard and picked up Deputy Woods, Officers fired shotguns into the windows of the house. They carried the wounded Deputy to the ambulance, and he was taken to Greenville Memorial Hospital. Deputy Bishop later went to the hospital where he was treated for his injuries and released.
Officers from Greenville, Spartanburg and the Highway Patrol, along with Agents from the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED) came to the scene of the shootout. The gunbattle continued as officers fired tear gas into the house. Luster escaped through a rear window and ran into a wooded area. Bloodhounds from SLED joined the search. Chief Grant, who had suffered a heart attack six weeks earlier, refused to leave or receive medical attention for his wounds. He stated that, he was going to see this man caught before he left, as he continued with the manhunt.
Essau Luster, Jr. was found by Officers at around 10:30 that night. He was dead in a ditch, of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Only then did Chief Grant go to the hospital for treatment for his gunshot wounds.
Laurens County Deputy Clayton Woods died at the Greenville Memorial Hospital at 10:50 on the same night. He was 38 years old.
Funeral services for Deputy Clayton Kirby Woods were conducted on Friday, June 18th at Princeton Baptist Church and he was buried in the Davenport Baptist Church Cemetery. He was survived by his mother, sister and two brothers.
Laurens County Deputy Sheriff Clayton Kirby Woods was inducted into the South Carolina Law Enforcement Officers Hall of Fame in 1986, never to be forgotten.
