Driver shot at by man in moving vehicle in Cherryvale

At first, she simply thought the car in front of her was fishtailing from speeding. Then she noticed the gun sticking out of the other vehicle, shooting toward the now rolling, flipping Nissan.

Sumter County Sheriff’s Office investigators are trying to identify the men involved in the driving-while-shooting incident Ashley NeSmith witnessed Tuesday just after 1:45 p.m. on North Saint Pauls Church Road at Confederate Road in Cherryvale.

The men fled the scene, one on foot after his silver Nissan Maxima rolled what NeSmith said was four or five times before coming to rest in a ditch, decorated with bullet holes. She said he was grabbing his side when he ran into the woods when the car had “barely stopped rolling.”

An incident report from the sheriff’s office detailed a search of the area with K-9 Tank but did not locate him.

Another man fled in a white “older model” Dodge Charger, according to the report. It was not immediately clear if there were more suspects involved than the shooter and victim.

“It was like watching a reality show,” NeSmith said. “There was the white car with a big ol’ dude holding a big ol’ gun out the window, shooting.”

The incident report says three to four bullet holes were found near the trunk of the Maxima.

NeSmith said she slammed on her brakes to avoid hitting the vehicle as it started to lose control and fishtailed into her lane, and she pulled over to call 911. She said two other witnesses in another car saw more of the shooter, who is described so far only as a black male.

South Carolina Highway Patrol also responded to the scene.

Maj. Allen Dailey with the sheriff’s office said county investigators were still processing the information Tuesday evening and that they are working to identify the two involved.

Anyone with information is asked to call the sheriff’s office at (803) 436-2000 or Crime Stoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC. Callers can remain anonymous.

“It was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. I’m not from here,” NeSmith said, “but you don’t see that kind of stuff every day.”