WINNSBORO (March 25, 2016) – A Blackstock man was shot at close range inside his car Saturday night while parked outside a home on Russell Street in the Zion Hill neighborhood of Winnsboro.
Freddie Lorick, Chief of Public Safety, said Roy Quincy Craig, 22, of Icon Lane, Blackstock, arrived at the home in the 100 block of Russell Street just before midnight to pick up a girlfriend. His date was not quite ready, Lorick said, and although she invited him to wait inside, Craig elected to wait in his parked car.
Moments later, Lorick said, two unidentified black males approached Craig’s car. One of the men reportedly told Craig that his aunt did not want anyone parking in front of the house and asked Craig to move the car. As Craig put the car in gear, one of the suspects produced a handgun, leaned in through Craig’s open driver’s side window and fired. The shot struck Craig in the lower left back, Lorick said, and as Craig drove away two more shots were fired at his car.
Craig managed to drive approximately 50 yards down the road, Lorick said, before the car stalled out. Craig abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot, making it as far as the 400 block of W. College Street where he collapsed on the front steps of a home.
A 64-year-old woman inside the home recognized Craig and when Craig told her he had been shot, she called the police, Lorick said.
Craig was transported by ambulance to Palmetto Richland Hospital where he was in stable condition at press time, but with the bullet still lodged in his back.
Investigators responding to the scene retrieved three shell casings from a .40 caliber handgun, Lorick said. Two of the casings were found in the roadway on Russell Street, while another casing was found inside Craig’s abandoned car.
Although several witnesses reported hearing gunshots at the time of the incident, there were no witnesses to the shooting itself and Lorick said his department currently had no information on the suspects. Motive for the shooting is also unclear, Lorick said. At first investigators suspected the shooting was connected to a robbery attempt; however, Lorick said that has since been ruled out. It may be likely, Lorick said, that one of the suspects is an ex-boyfriend of the female Craig was picking up that night.
Anyone with information related to the shooting is encouraged to call Public Safety at 803-635-4511.
