UPDATED: Master Cpl. Sandy Rogers has died

Officer Sandy Rogers was shot and killed this morning. Submitted photo.

Aiken Public Safety Chief Charles Barranco announced this evening that Master Cpl. Sandy Rogers is dead.

Rogers was 48 years old.

The veteran officer was shot in the line of duty shortly before 8 a.m. this morning and was pronounced dead at Aiken Regional Medical Centers later in the day.

Within hours of the shooting, state agents arrested the accused gunman, Joshua Tremaine Jones, 26, at his residence on the 300 block of Youman Street in Batesburg on allegations he opened fire on the officer after she approached him in vehicle at Eustis Park in Aiken.

Rogers reportedly approached the vehicle about 7:50 a.m.

A minute after she reported being out with a blue vehicle, another officer called for her.

She did not respond.

Officers called on EMS, and the chase ensued.

Aiken Public Safety officers pursued the accused shooter in excess of 100 mph from the park and issued an all points bulletin search for him and the stolen vehicle he was driving.

He was taken into police custody and was transported to the Aiken County detention center.

The 26-year-old is also a suspect in the murder of his 21-year-old pregnant girlfriend in Augusta.

No one else has been connected to the either shooting at this time.

Georgia officials have said Cayce Vice, 21, was found dead in her apartment about 10:30 a.m., but it was not clear how long she had been dead.

Jones was previously arrested in Aiken in July 2011 and charged with giving false information to a police officer, carrying a concealed weapon and violation of the seatbelt law. Also, in 2009, he pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a pistol. He was sentenced in general sessions court in Aiken County to 108 days time served. Anyone with information on this shooting or suspect is asked to call 911 immediately. Check back to aikenstandard.com for more as this story continues to develop.