"How do you think I'm doing?" That's what Brian Hickerson told a photographer who asked how he was holding up, caught on camera Wednesday at a gas station in Greenville, South Carolina. When the photographer offered condolences, Hickerson, in a yellow t-shirt and backwards cap, said, "Appreciate it. That's all I got for you, man," according to video obtained by E! News.

He had a fresh mark near his left eye. That tracks with an altercation four days earlier at a Greenville bar, where TMZ footage shows Hickerson flinging a bar stool as people around him yell at him to stop before a man drags him off. Police handcuffed him at the scene but released him without charges.

A different video, posted to X, shows Hickerson sitting on the ground in cuffs shouting, "GPD leaked it when my girlfriend died," a clear reference to Panettiere. The Greenville Police Department told Page Six that Hickerson's brother Zach, who was at the bar with him, was intoxicated and yelling profanities when officers arrived, and it was Zach who ended up booked for disorderly conduct at the county detention center.

Panettiere died of an apparent overdose on August 16 at a Greenville Airbnb, with both Hickerson brothers present at the time. A redacted police report obtained by Page Six notes that Zach grew visibly emotional while paramedics worked on her, while Brian reportedly stayed composed until she was pronounced dead. Dispatch audio described a woman in cardiac arrest with CPR already underway by the time responders reached her. She was declared dead at 2:32 p.m.

What the DEA is looking at

TMZ has reported that investigators believe Panettiere took an oxycodone pill laced with fentanyl the morning she died, after allegedly buying several drugs from a longtime dealer in Los Angeles before flying to South Carolina the day before. Years of text messages between her and that alleged dealer are now reportedly central to the Drug Enforcement Administration's inquiry. Hickerson has spoken with the DEA as part of that investigation, though what he told them hasn't been made public.

His attorney has kept comment to a minimum since Panettiere died, saying only that her death remains under investigation and that the family deserves space while it proceeds.

The Hickerson-Panettiere relationship goes back to 2018 and was marked by repeated breakups, reconciliations and, according to Panettiere's own memoir, abuse she said she suffered at his hands. He's been arrested more than once on domestic violence charges tied to her. A source close to Panettiere told Page Six that the two had reconnected roughly two weeks before she died, and that people around her had long worried about him, calling him someone who kept finding his way back in "as a friend."

No charges have been filed in connection with Panettiere's death, and the cause remains formally under investigation. Whether the DEA's inquiry into the alleged drug supply leads anywhere is still an open question, one Greenville authorities haven't put a timeline on.