New information has surfaced about the man accused in last weekend’s deadly shooting at a Sprint gas station in North Augusta, revealing a prior arrest and troubling behavior at a college in Georgia.
A video has also surfaced online showing officers wrestling with the murder suspect after he was shot by a responding officer.
Records from Georgia Southern University’s police department show that J’shawn Deonte Dukes, now 21, was previously arrested in Statesboro in 2023 after an incident involving a pellet gun. According to the report, officers responded to Eagle Village on March 22, 2023, after two female students reported being shot with Orbeez pellets from a passing vehicle.
The two female victims told officers a dark-colored car drove through the complex with what appeared to be a pellet gun sticking out of the back window. One of the women provided photos showing small welts on her back.
GSU investigators later identified Dukes and Darren Burton, then 19, as suspects. Dukes was subsequently arrested on April 2, 2023, for reckless conduct and battery, according to university police records. He spent two days in jail before being released, and the outcome of the charges is unclear.
Deadly Confrontation in North Augusta: Police say Dukes was the armed suspect in a double homicide at the Sprint gas station on Edgefield Road on Oct. 26, where 76-year-old Jewel Harden and 33-year-old Thomas Lilly Jr. were fatally shot.
When North Augusta officers responded to an armed robbery call, Dukes allegedly pointed a rifle toward them, prompting one officer to fire his weapon. Dukes was struck and later transported to a local hospital for treatment.
A video from a witness was posted online showing two officers struggling to handcuff the suspect as an unidentified man with a gun heads toward the store where two victims were found in front of the cash register.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) has taken over the investigation, as is standard in officer-involved shootings. Duke’s condition has not been released by authorities.
