The 2003 Abbeville right-of-way standoff was a 14-hour shootout that took place on December 8, 2003, in Abbeville, South Carolina, between alleged extremists and self-proclaimed "sovereign citizens" Arthur, Rita, and their son Steven Bixby; and members of the Abbeville city police department, the Abbeville County sheriff's office, the South Carolina Highway Patrol, the South Carolina Department of Transportation , and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.