Victims left scattered following shooting and crash, South Carolina deputies say

Four males were hospitalized late Monday night after they were found scattered following a shooting and a crash, according to the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office.

Three of the males were involved in the shooting, and the fourth victim was injured when his vehicle was hit by a car fleeing the gunfire at a gas station, the sheriff’s office said Tuesday in a news release.

At about 11:20 p.m. on Monday, deputies responded to a 911 call about a shooting at the EnMarket gas station/convenience store on Edgefield Highway, according to the sheriff’s office. That’s about 1.5 miles from Aiken High School.

At the scene deputies found one male near the gas pumps, according to the release. The male had been shot in chest and arms, the sheriff’s office said.

Deputies also found a black car in front of the gas station at the intersection of Edgefield Highway and Croft Mill Road, according to the release. The black car had collided with another vehicle, the sheriff’s office said.

Witnesses said the occupants of the black car were involved in the shooting and the car sped away after the gunshots, according to the release.

One person in the black car ran from the crash, leaving the driver who was injured in the collision and had also been shot in his leg, the sheriff’s office said. The male who ran was later found, and had been shot in his chest, according to the release. Information on where and when that male was found was not available.

Another male who was in the vehicle that collided with the black car also was injured, the sheriff’s office said. The South Carolina Highway Patrol is leading the investigation into the crash.

All four males suffered critical injuries and were taken to an area hospital, according to the release. Further information on their conditions was not available.

There was no word about how many people were firing guns.

Information on potential charges, and who could be arrested, was not available.

While there was no word about a motive for the shooting, Sheriff Michael Hunt said “this is one of four shooting calls we have responded to over the past three days. These acts of violence are not random and are the result of alleged gangs retaliating against each other.”

One person was injured in the previous three shootings that happened on Saturday and Sunday, according to the release.

The sheriff’s office did not say that any of the people injured in Monday’s shooting were involved in any of the previous incidents.

“To stem this violence, we hope that anyone with information on these perpetrators, we want them to come forward to assist our community inputting a stop to these few individuals,” Hunt said in the release.

Anyone with information about Monday’s shooting, or any of the other recent instances of gunfire, is asked to call the sheriff’s office at 803-648-6811, CrimeStoppers at 888-CRIME-SC or submit an online tip.