Charleston Police investigate weekend violence that ended in shooting

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Charleston Police say they are trying to determine who was involved in multiple incidents including a large fight and a shooting that injured five people early Sunday morning.

So far one person has been charged in connection with one of the incidents, police say.

Charleston Mayor John Tecklenburg released a brief statement Monday:

I’m proud of the work our police department did to bring this dangerous situation under control, and moving forward, we will continue to ensure they have the resources and support they need to keep our city and citizens safe.

The incident began overnight Sunday morning.

Police arrested one man in connection with a fight at approximately 2:30 a.m. in the 700 block of King Street.

Justin Drayton, 20, is charged with public disorderly conduct, according to jail records.

As police tried to break up a fight between Drayton and a second man, police said multiple people began trying to interfere in the effort. One began to grab at one of the fighters and the officer and said, “We got this,” the incident report states.

The officer, who said he was quickly overwhelmed by the crowd, deployed pepper spray at multiple bystanders, the report states.

When the officer was then able to break up the two, Drayton turned around and kicked the officer in the chest, the report states. The officer then chased and tackled Drayton and was able to detain him with the help of other officers who had arrived on the scene, police say.

The victim told police he had words with Drayton and that Drayton struck him in the face, at which point all parties with both men began fighting.

Rivers said he did not wish to press charges, but police charged Drayton on their own because he created a public disturbance, the report states.

It is not clear from the incident report how many people were involved in the fight.

At approximately 3 a.m., police said several people arrived at MUSC reporting they had been stabbed on King Street.

The incident report states investigators determined the stabbing was part of the fight police stopped earlier in the evening.

One of the stabbing victims told police she was in a large group of people who were fighting when she was stabbed, but said she did not know who stabbed her.

A second stabbing victim told police she saw the first victim get stabbed multiple times and she was stabbed once.

Police returned to King Street, this time in the 500 block, to a report of shots having been fired.

Police found multiple gunshot victims whom EMS took to an area hospital. The incident report indicates there were as many as five victims.

Police spokesman Charles Francis said the injuries were not life threatening and said the shooting occurred between a group of people after the fight at King and Reid Streets.

No suspects were immediately identified in the shooting incident.

Francis said the investigation into the shooting was ongoing.

Anyone with information on any of the incidents can call the Charleston Police Department at 843-743-7200 or Crime Stoppers of the Lowcountry at 843-554-1111.

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