Law enforcement officials in three area counties are investigating separate shootings Aug. 14 that have left one person dead.
Capt. Eric Abdullah, the public information officer with Aiken County Sheriff’s Department, said Larry Bernard McKie Jr., 30, has been arrested on a murder warrant in the death of a 14-year-old Nathanial Johnson of 135 Saddlebrook Trail, Graniteville, S.C. McKie was taken to the Aiken County Detention Center.
The Graniteville incident occurred around 11:51 a.m. when a 911 caller “reported a shooting that left one male injured from gunfire to his arm and leg and one male deceased,” according to a news release from the Aiken County Sheriff’s Department.
MORE: Multiple Shootings Across CSRA
When deputies arrived, the suspect was being restrained by “others in the home,” the news release added. The injured male was taken to an area hospital.
Abdullah said he could only comment on his department’s investigation but added deputies were in communication with other law enforcement entities.
Two additional shootings took place earlier in the morning Saturday across the river in Georgia.
Around 8:55 a.m. Saturday, a black male entered the Dollar General on North Main Street in Wrens and pulled a handgun, firing multiple shots at a salesclerk. At least one shot hit the clerk, who was “alert and talking” when Wrens police officers arrived on the scene. The clerk was transported to an Augusta hospital, according to a news release from the Wrens Police Department.
Prior to the Wrens shooting, a drive-by shooting was reported on Deans Bridge Road in Richmond County.
“The Wrens Police Department is aware of a shooting incident earlier on U. S. 1 in Richmond County and is working with their investigators to determine any possible connection between the two cases. Again, this is preliminary and as of this release no connection has been made,” the news release said.
The suspect in the Wrens shooting was described as a bald, black male possibly in his 40s. He was described as being about 6-feet tall, weighting 200-225 pounds. He was dressed in a white T-shirt, dark-colored cargo pants and black tennis shoes.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the Features Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com. Greg Rickabaugh and Scott Hudson contributed to this story.
