Surveillance Footage Shows Teens Running When Shots Fired
BLYTHEWOOD – After what appeared to be a shootout between two groups of male teenagers in a parking lot on McNulty Road about 1:30 a.m. Sunday, an eyewitness who was sitting in his car nearby reading his texts told The Voice what he saw.
“I heard as many as 15-20 handgun shots,” the witness stated. “I looked up and saw a big bunch of teenagers in the parking lot of the shopping center on McNulty Road. Then they broke up – some ran over behind the dumpsters in the parking lot of Comfort Inn – where I was – and then the two groups began firing another 10-15 shots toward each other,” he said.
“I could see kids running at the Waffle House,” the witness said.
A video posted by the Richland County Sheriff’s office shows a large group of teens outside the Waffle House that appears to have been taken at the same time the shots were fired at the McNulty shopping center behind the Waffle House. A group of teens – male and female – can be seen scattering when the first shots are fired in the distance. Some run toward the Exxon Sharpe Shoppe 24-hour convenience store where a person associated with the store reported that employees quickly locked door to the store.
The convenience store source also said the store’s video shows a large group of male and female teens in the store’s parking lot and that at least four of them were brandishing hand guns.
The following morning, The Voice photographed a bullet hole in a front window of the Exxon Sharpe Shoppe convenience store.
According to the witness, Richland County Sheriff’s deputies arrived within minutes of the gun shots being fired.
“When they arrived, the kids scattered,” the witness said.
Female Wounded
Deputies reported finding several bullet holes in buildings and received information from dispatch that a female with a gunshot wound was in the IGA parking lot. According to the incident report, deputies found the victim in the passenger seat of a vehicle with a gunshot wound to the leg, and an uninjured male in the driver’s seat.
The Richland County EMS arrived and transported the victim to the hospital.
According to the witness in the Comfort Inn parking lot, Blythewood Road and other nearby streets in the town were largely cordoned off for several hours.
Teen Pop-up Parties Plague Town
There have been a series of disruptions involving an arrest, injuries, and guns by large groups of teens roaming through downtown or park events since last summer.
During the Town’s Rockin’ Red White and Blue fireworks celebration on July 3, 2024, at Doko Meadows Park, a teen was arrested and charged with Aggravated Breach of Peace after shooting a splat gun in the park’s playground area. A Roman candle and other fireworks unrelated to the event were shot into the crowd which was reported by Town Hall to be as large as 13,000 people.
Though not initially acknowledged by Town Hall, a young girl was injured – from some reports, by the splat guns and from other reports, by the Roman candle – and had to be transported to a local hospital by an ambulance.
After weeks of The Voice unsuccessfully submitting Freedom of Information requests and making phone calls regarding these incidents, a spokesperson for Richland County responded with verification that an injured person was transported from Doko Park by Richland County EMS.
Following the July 3 teen melee at the park, Mayor Sloan Griffin released the following statement:
“In response to this incident, the Town of Blythewood is implementing several enhanced security measures to ensure the safety and enjoyment of all our residents and visitors at future events, including: perimeter fencing, a clear bag policy, increased law enforcement, youth admission policy, and congregate restrictions.”
However, none of these policies were instituted prior to March 15, 2025, when a large crowd of teens converged on the Town’s Movies in the Park event. When the first of several fights broke out at the movie event, law enforcement was called and subsequently shut down the movie after other fights broke out.
In response to The Voice’s request for an incident report, the Richland County PIO (public information officer) stated that there was no fight in progress when RCSD deputies arrived.
“Currently, we have no report because we have no victim.”
Since last summer there have been other reports of large groups of teens roaming through town.
When an estimated 100-200 teens swarmed downtown Blythewood Saturday, Nov. 17, law enforcement was called by several Blythewood businesses.
Posts began showing up on Facebook late that night.
Darren Craig posted: “What’s going on in Blythewood? Stopped by the BP and the cops pulled up and made everybody leave, asking if we were with some kids. The cops are at the Waffle House now.”
“Just saw the same thing …8 cop cars out there,” Hailey Gardner posted.
The incident was also featured on “On Patrol: Live.”
In response to The Voice’s request for a report for that incident, a PIO with the Richland County Sheriff’s Department responded, that the department had not issued an incident report.
Related: What happened at Doko’s fireworks event?, Teens turn Doko Meadows movie night fun into mayhem
