Sumter Police Department seeks info in drive-by Broad Street shooting

The Sumter Police Department is continuing to investigate a drive-by shooting that left a 27-year-old man shot and killed inside his vehicle Friday.

Alki Williams of Mayesville was driving on Broad Street near Woodlawn Avenue when a white vehicle drove up alongside and fired shots about 5 p.m., said Tonyia McGirt, public information officer for the police department. The white vehicle then turned off Broad Street and sped away.

Williams, who was struck by the gunfire, was located inside his vehicle, which stopped in a business parking area at 286 Broad St., McGirt said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Williams' family members were notified by the Sumter County Coroner's Office, and an autopsy is scheduled for today.

According to McGirt, the investigation is continuing as of Monday. As it continues, officers have determined the incident was isolated and that Williams likely knew the shooter.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Sumter Police Department at (803) 436-2700 or Crime Stoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC.

In four months, Sumter County has seen a total of five homicides this year, according to Sumter County Coroner Robbie Baker. Those include an infant who was born early by an emergency surgery when his mother was critically injured in a November shooting, a 21-year-old who was found shot in his vehicle on Bultman Drive, a 48-year-old who was stabbed following an argument and a 36-year-old who was killed in an apparent domestic violence incident, according to law enforcement reports.

Government agencies consider different incidents as homicides.

Other homicides that were reported this year - the death of two babies (unrelated) that each had drugs in their systems - were considered as 2020 incidents while arrests and charges were made this year.

The Sumter Police Department did not consider the infant's death a homicide from this year because the shooting happened in November.

The Sumter County Sheriff's Office reported a total of 11 homicides in the county last year, while the City of Sumter had a total of 11 homicides.

Although both law enforcement agencies reported 22 total homicides last year, the Sumter County Coroner's Office reported 26, according to its annual report.

Pedestrian hit-and-runs, such as the recent death of 23-year-old Rebecca Brown, are not considered homicides, according to Tonyia McGirt, public information officer for the Sumter Police Department. That incident is being investigated as an unintentional hit-and-run by the police department.