Nikie Mayo

nikie.mayo@independentmail.com

An Anderson County woman fatally shot her brother Monday during a confrontation after he threatened her with an ax, according to the coroner.

The shooting happened at 12:20 p.m.on Cloverhill Drive, part of a rural, residential area near Airline Road.

Anderson County Coroner Greg Shore said Otto Thomas Mahsetky Jr., 23, had recently lost his job and had become mentally unstable and violent. Shore said Mahsetky had also struggled with the loss of his father, who died five years ago. Mahsetky, his mother and sister moved to Anderson County from Florida after his father's death.

"He lived with his mother and sister, and he became violent enough with them Sunday that they left the house," Shore said.

Just before the shooting Monday, Mahsetky's mother and sister had gone to a probate judge to try to find out what they needed to do to have him involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital.

"His demeanor had become very violent toward them recently, and they believed he needed some help," Shore said.

When his mother and sister came home Monday, Mahsetky was not there, but pulled into the driveway within minutes, Shore said.

"The mother had just gone into the house and the sister was still outside when she and her brother got into a confrontation," Shore said.

The coroner said the man had an ax, "which he began to use on the side of the garage near where she was."

Shore said the sister was afraid and pulled a gun out of the glove box of the car. She shot her brother once in the chest, Shore said.

Cloverhill Drive was blocked Monday afternoon as officers investigated outside the modest brick home where the shooting happened.

Detective Nikki Carson, a spokeswoman for the Anderson County Sheriff's Office, said the shooting remained under investigation late Monday afternoon, and no decision had been made about charges in the case.

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