17-year-old charged with attempted murder after stabbing, hit-and-run in Sumter

A 17-year-old is being charged as an adult after reportedly stabbing an individual and hitting them and another victim with their vehicle.

At about 11 p.m. on Sunday, June 15, deputies arrived to the scene of a traffic accident on U.S. 15 to find a 17-year-old suspect, whose name has not been released due to their age, and another individual.

Initial reports claimed a pedestrian had been struck by a vehicle, according to Mark Bordeaux, public information officer with Sumter County Sheriff's Office.

The teenager told deputies they had been attacked and admitted to striking the victim with the car, Bordeaux said. Following witness interviews, deputies believed the victim and teen initially met in the victim’s parked vehicle earlier that evening. The teen then allegedly stabbed the victim before the victim fled the vehicle. The teen then took control of the victim’s vehicle and intentionally struck the victim with it, Bordeaux said.

A passerby stopped to assist the victim with their injuries when the teen returned to the scene and ran over the victim again, striking the passerby’s vehicle and injuring the driver, Bordeaux said.

Both victims and suspect were taken to a local hospital. The conditions of the two victims are unknown, according to Bordeaux.

Upon release from the hospital, the suspect was arrested and charged as an adult with attempted murder and assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, according to Bordeaux, who said suspects under the age of 18 are not identified. 

The suspect was taken to Sumter County Sheriff’s Office Detention Center where they await a bond hearing.

An investigation is ongoing.