Suspect reportedly shoots Sumter man point blank in stomach

A Sumter man who is a convicted felon has been arrested and charged with attempted murder in connection with an incident that left a victim shot point blank in the stomach.

Vito Videll Wright, 42, of Patriot Parkway, faces charges of attempted murder, possession of a weapon during a violent crime and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon after being arrested on Monday, according to Ken Bell, public information officer for the Sumter County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies arrived to a house on Saturday, Sept. 15 on Louella Lane to find a blue Chevrolet Caprice parked at the front steps of the home with the driver's door open, according to an incident report. The victim, a 49-year-old man who lives at that home, was laying face-down next to the steps on the front porch, and two other men were trying to help him.

The witnesses told the deputies the two of them, the victim and the suspect were "all hanging out at the home" when the victim and suspect got into a verbal altercation, the incident report says. The suspect then left and returned in the Caprice as the victim walked onto the porch with a machete "and stood on the porch."

One of the deputies reportedly found the machete on the porch.

According to the witness' account in the incident report, the suspect walked onto the second step on the front porch with what appeared to be a sawed-off .410-caliber shotgun and shot the victim in the stomach.

The victim was transported to Palmetto Health Tuomey, where he immediately went into surgery.

According to the sheriff's office, Wright is a convicted felon and is, therefore, unable to lawfully posses a firearm.