A man shot and killed by Charleston police after police said he shot and killed a police dog was being sought in a stabbing investigation and has made headlines in the capital city for years for his connection to the infamous Charleston sniper investigation. Police sources confirm the man killed Saturday night by police was Samuel Paul Ranson who had an active warrant for malicious wounding in a stabbing that was reported Aug. 22 on East Point Drive in Charleston. Ranson has arrests for numerous crimes going back more than a decade, and made headlines in Charleston after he was named a key witness in the sniper investigation that started in August 2003. Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin ordered all city of Charleston flags at all city-owned facilities to be displayed at half-staff to honor the life of service and heroic acts of K9 Axel.