Man shot in back, airlifted

Shooting suspect surrenders; victim in stable but critical condition

Joe Perry / The Item A Life Net helicopter airlifts 31-year-old Henry Brooks Jr. to a Columbia hospital after he was shot in the back on Tuesday.

By JOE PERRY
Item Staff Writer
jperry@theitem.com

WEDGEFIELD — A 31-year-old man was shot once in the back early Tuesday night on Praylou Road and airlifted to a Columbia hospital about an hour later.

The 26-year-old man suspected of shooting him surrendered to deputies while talking on the phone with them, and was taken into custody shortly thereafter.

Henry Brooks Jr., of 79 Sally St., was in critical but stable condition at press time, said Sumter County Sheriff Anthony Dennis, after a Life Net helicopter flew him to Palmetto Health Richland.

Aaron Alexander Barnett, 26, of 160 Praylou Road, is facing an assault and battery with intent to kill charge, Dennis said, and was being interviewed at press time.

"They're actually neighbors," Dennis said,"and there was some type of feud and they were arguing."

BARNETT

Barnett fired shots into the air in an apparent attempt to scare Brooks, he added, and then shot him with a .380 caliber semiautomatic handgun about 6:45 p.m.

About 15 minutes after the shooting, a small crowd of neighbors, relatives and onlookers gathered next to the scene — two areas cordoned off with yellow crime scene tape on the dirt road off Cane Savannah Road.

Marie Anderson, 27, said her cousin, known as "Scoop," was arguing with Barnett at the end of the road near the stop sign just before the shooting.

"My cousin said, 'What're you gonna do now? Burn up my car and my house?'" she said, explaining that she was visiting her mother-in-law on Praylou Road.

Brooks' remark apparently prompted Barnett to walk back about 100 feet down the dirt road, she said.

"The next thing I know, he started shooting," she said. "He shot him in the back."

The area next to the brown trailer where Barnett lives had two plastic yellow evidence markers — 1 and 2 — used to denote shell casings. A little further down the road, investigators placed several markers just inside a fenced yard.

About 7:30 p.m., a Life Net helicopter lifted off from a grassy field between ALG Road and Sally Street.

Dennis said the shooting remains under investigation.



Contact Staff Writer Joe Perry at jperry@theitem.com or (803) 774-1272.