Two separate shootings in South Carolina, one in Charleston and one in Florence, resulted in the death of an eight-year-old child and injury of at least 13 others, including three law enforcement personnel in the latest in gun violence crimes in the U.S.
In Florence, police say a man was shooting at cars passing him home on Saturday and has already been charged with murder after fatally shooting an eight-year-old boy that was struck in the neck and died of his injuries the next day.
South Carolina Shootings
The suspect, identified as 40-year-old Charles Montgomery Allen, was also charged with attempted murder, four counts of discharging a firearm into an occupied vehicle, and possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime. In a statement, Florence County Sheriff TJ Joye said that there appeared to be "no motive" for the shooting of the young boy.
The victim was later identified by the Florence County Coroner's Office as young Quarius Dunham. Joye said that Allen was most likely methed up, noting that the suspect had a history and has been incarcerated before. He called the incident a "senseless act," as per Fox news.
Authorities also said that the suspect thought people were "out to get him" and immediately began shooting at random vehicles over the weekend after shooting up his own house. After a brief standoff with police officers, the suspect was arrested and taken into custody. Allen is being held without bail at the Florence County Detention Center.
The eight-year-old victim was on vacation in South Carolina with his family at the time that he was struck by the bullet that Allen fired. He was sitting in the passenger seat of the car as his father, whose name has not been released, was struck in the leg while driving the vehicle.
According to People, the victim's family made the difficult decision of removing him from life support due to the severity of his injuries. In a statement, the Florence County Sheriff's Office's SWAT team located the suspect on Old River Road.
Series of Mass Shootings
In a separate shooting in South Carolina, this time in Charleston, 10 people were injured, four of which were critical, along with three law enforcement officials on Monday night after gunfire erupted in the area. Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg called the Memorial Day rampage a mass shooting and said, "we're counting our blessings that no one in this incident was killed."
Gunshots were fired in the area of 41 South Street at around 11:40 p.m. on Monday, the site of a vacant lot where a large party was taking place. The event was attended by more than 100 people, said Charleston Police Chief Luther T. Reynolds during a Tuesday news conference.
Reynolds noted that a 17-year-old was among the injured while the rest of the victims were adults. An officer with the Charleston Police Department responded to the scene following a noise complaint and was shot at while inside a police cruiser. The police chief said that the particular officer was not struck directly but suffered injury from shrapnel and was later hospitalized and released, NBC News reported.
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