SC - Paul Murdaugh, 22 and mom Margaret, 52, found shot to death, Islandton, 7 June 2021 #4

[Warwick7]

HAMPTON COUNTY, S.C. (WSAV) — Murdaugh family friend and attorney Jim Griffin, tells News 3 that Alex Murdaugh was shot while changing a tire in Hampton County.

Griffin says, according to Alex’s brother Randy, a pickup truck drove up and someone opened fire on Murdaugh. Law Enforcement says the incident occurred on the 15000 block of Salkehatchie Road.

Multiple sources, including Griffin and SLED, say Alex Murdaugh called 9-1-1...

...SLED Spokesperson Tommy Crosby, released a statement Sunday afternoon detailing the timeline of the shooting.

Crosby says the Hampton County Dispatch received a call from Alex Murdaugh at 1:34 p.m. claiming he had been shot. SLED sent personnel to the scene at 2:41 p.m. and SLED’s Lowcountry agents arrived at 3:40 p.m. Crime agents arrived within an hour later, according to Crosby.

Crosby says Murdaugh’s black SUV was impounded for evaluation. Crosby says the Hampton County Sheriff’s Office asked SLED to lead the investigation.

Police say they found at least seven shell casings at the scene. Police have not released any details on possible suspects or motives.

Authorities investigating after Alex Murdaugh was found shot in the head | WCBD News 2

AM called 911 himself, not his brother and SLED is saying "at least 7 shell casings were found".

Edit by me: I forgot the other thing mentioned, that the family lawyer said it was RM telling him it was a pick-up truck not a "car" like SLED's release said.

We are also left wondering if it was 10 casings or 7....

 

[worm]

A representative from Hampton County Fire-Rescue told a reporter at the scene that the agency was called there around 1:30 p.m. He declined to give his name.

https://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/crime/article254007833.html

SLED said the Hampton County Sheriff’s Office secured the scene and Emergency Medical Services coordinated medical air transport of Alex Murdaugh to Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah, Georgia for treatment of a superficial gunshot wound to the head.

Officials with SLED responded at 2:41 p.m. with Lowcountry regional agents arriving on scene at 3:40 p.m. and SLED crime scene agents arriving on scene at 4:30 p.m., according to a release.

No arrests in Alex Murdaugh shooting, SLED investigates

Crime scene agents get there three hours after the incident was called at 1:30!? Is that normal response for this area of the state, if anyone knows? TIA

SLED is based in Columbia so the crime scene people were probably called in on a Saturday. It said the Lowcountry based agents were there sooner I think.

 

[airportwoman]

If we only knew what SLED knows.

No kidding! This story just gets curiouser and curiouser all the time.

 

[sandy_80]

this case has more conspiracy theories than political assassinations

 

[10ofRods]

A news story I linked to farther back states there were two men who shot at AM.

I'm surprised that they have this news from Paul Murdaugh (who is the only witness). I keep reading that there were two men in the truck, according to Paul.

But not that two men shot at Murdaugh. It's nearly impossible unless they pulled up behind him and each tried to shoot out of their own window, each of them shooting 5 bullets. A typical pistol magazine holds 10 bullets.

To me it sounded as if the truck remained in motion (nothing about it stopping or two men getting out). Only one side of the truck would have had a clear of Murdaugh near his car, IMO.

However, if that's what they did (instead of pulling alongside him), they chose a strategy and it's no wonder they didn't manage to hit him. If Murdaugh was fixing a tire, he would have been behind or to the side of his car. If they pulled up behind him, they'd have to either stay quite a way back, but even so, lean out of the windows to shoot at him.

Much easier to drive alongside the car and have just one person shooting, IMO. If it happened at all.

 

[LetsSolvIt]

Poster said...
"Running out of gas would be a easier to believe. I'm so glad I've never had to explain some of my random (but innocent) detours I've taken when driving alone!"

I responded...
"Yes indeed, I just took a spur of the moment detour on the way home last night, just to ride the road along the river and have a looksie at an old residence."

Thank you, it was your home. Not one belonging to Ms. Got it now.

 

[Sconnie]

Is there any indication that he was actually out of the car, fixing the flat? Could he have been sitting in the driver's seat, making for a trickier drive-by shot?

 

[Cryptic]

I read the manual regarding the tire change. It appears that the vehicle does have at least a donut spare, and run-flat tires....

And also has tire pressure sensors replete with warning lights and a driver that probably is not prone to buy "new to me" tires from the used tire shop that can fail unexpectedly. Nor is driver likely to keep the dealership tires until they go bald and separate.

With high quality tires being replaced by high quality tires, the totality suggests that Mercedes hit a piece of road debris that was large enough to cause the tire to go flat so fast that der Mercedes approved run flat feature could not cope.

That is of course, entirely possible. But.... how likely is it?

 

[swedeheart]

Legal dynasty heir whose son and wife were found shot dead is shot in the head | Daily Mail Online

 

[worm]

And also has tire pressure sensors replete with warning lights and a driver that probably is not prone to buy "new to me" tires from the used tire shop that can fail unexpectedly. Nor is driver likely to keep the dealership tires until they go bald and separate.

With high quality tires being timely replaced by high quality tires, the totality suggests that Mercedes hit a piece of road debris that was large enough to cause tire to go flat so fast that the run flat feature could not cope with it.

That is of course, entirely possible. But.... how likely is it?

Good point. It’s possible on these rural roads where debris can come from logging or farm equipment and damage tires.
This superficial wound report is sticking with me. I get why EMS pulled out all of the options as head injuries are bloody but now that it’s been reported as not that bad, makes this a bit of a different story.

 

[AC's Grandma]

So let me see, 7 or 10 casings found, he was grazed in the head and the picture that shows LE marking off where the casing were found are all at the back driver's side of the Mercedes. Not one bullet hit the vehicle either? JMO, MOO, IMO and all that but something's not kosher.
There's been no mention of which tire it was that was flat, going flat, etc...has the tire been checked to see if it just had air let out of it or something puncture it? I have too many questions.

 

[sunshineray]

SLED is based in Columbia so the crime scene people were probably called in on a Saturday. It said the Lowcountry based agents were there sooner I think.

Says Lowcountry agents arrived at 3:40, so an hour after SLED officials arrived with SLED crime scene personnel getting the almost an hour after that.

 

[sunshineray]

Thank you, it was your home. Not one belonging to Ms. Got it now.

Yes, sorry for the confusion on that.

 

[worm]

Says Lowcountry agents arrived at 3:40, so an hour after SLED officials arrived with SLED crime scene personnel getting the almost an hour after that.

I just know that while my county in the upstate has a few SLED agents that live local, when the county LE calls for assistance, they come from Columbia, which is an hr away.

 

[Watts Bar]

Can't discount road rage either. I'm not saying that's what I think happened, just that it's a possibility. There are crazy people out there. Hell, look at the Damion Tillman, Kevin Springfield and Brandon Rollins case and how fast that escalated

I know pictures can be deceiving. But when I look at the available pictures of the car from the scene, I see the flat tire on the rear driver’s side, but I also believe I see some front end damage. I agree, a road rage incident, and possibly one which escalated well before any shots were fired, can’t be ruled out.
But if that were the case, why wouldn’t it be reported? I can guess that it could make AM appear a certain way to the public which would not bode well for him under the current circumstances (?) “Rage” is right there in the name. I don’t tend to believe this is what happened, but again, imo, I agree it can’t be ruled out rn. And if that is damage on the car, well, then.. that seems odd. But I think we’re all starting to expect odd.

 

[StephanieH]

Why is a guy that rich changing his own tire? I am not rich and I have both insurance and AAA for that.

 

[worm]

Why is a guy that rich changing his own tire? I am not rich and I have both insurance and AAA for that.

Country lawyer, gotta be rugged.

 

[10ofRods]

So let me see, 7 or 10 casings found, he was grazed in the head and the picture that shows LE marking off where the casing were found are all at the back driver's side of the Mercedes. Not one bullet hit the vehicle either? JMO, MOO, IMO and all that but something's not kosher.
There's been no mention of which tire it was that was flat, going flat, etc...has the tire been checked to see if it just had air let out of it or something puncture it? I have too many questions.

I wrote a rather lengthy post on this topic - but I didn't have your casings details.

So, the "truck" had to be stopped or nearly so, for that to happen. And if back driver's side, then shots were fired from passenger's side of the truck (meaning that unless the driver is actually shooting past his own passenger's head that only one person fired. At any rate, had to be going slo-o-oowly in order for the casings to all be at the back driver's side (I realize that it would only take seconds for this to happen - gun firing quickly, truck driving very slowly, or stopped).

No bullets hitting the vehicle (and therefore being found) is absolutely amazing. These two crooks are the worst shots ever. They must have pulled up alongside, fired 7-10 rounds (one of them did), and only managed to graze his scalp or something.

Wow. Anyway, I need to revise my post.

I hope they're out there with a metal detector - bullets must be close by (unless all of them somehow flew over the car - so that Mr. Murdaugh surely must have stood up between the car and the truck as he attempted to flee.

How lucky for him.

 

[Mamamerced]

2 shooters
10 casings

So let me see, 7 or 10 casings found, he was grazed in the head and the picture that shows LE marking off where the casing were found are all at the back driver's side of the Mercedes. Not one bullet hit the vehicle either? JMO, MOO, IMO and all that but something's not kosher.
There's been no mention of which tire it was that was flat, going flat, etc...has the tire been checked to see if it just had air let out of it or something puncture it? I have too many questions.

There was a picture posted here on WS showing a flat back tire on driver's side.

 

[worm]

Just an interesting observation with this case going on, wtoc.com has a report from just over in Beaufort county, complete with suspect and vehicle description, looking for a man who shot at a woman over a near traffic collision. And still no “seeking info” type of response in the AM case?