Teen arrested on 6 charges after shootout in N. Charleston neighborhood

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Police arrested a teenager accused of exchanging gunfire with a North Charleston resident who confronted him and three others about tampering with a neighbor’s cars.

The teen, whose identity was not released because of his age, is charged with attempted murder, unlawful carry of a handgun, possession of a handgun by a person under 18, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, tampering with a motor vehicle and larceny, according to North Charleston Police spokesman Harve Jacobs.

Police responded to the area of Park Gate Drive at approximately 9:45 p.m. Thursday where a shooting incident had been reported.

The victim told police he spotted a group of four people on his Ring doorbell pulling at the door handles of his neighbor’s vehicles across the street. The victim said he went outside and began to tail the group as they made their way down Park Gate Drive while he called 911.

An incident report states the witness saw the group run behind houses and then spotted them cutting behind more houses on Pomfret Street where the teen fired once at the victim. The victim found the group at the intersection of Park Gate Drive and Vermont Road where the victim stopped at a stop sign and the same teen began to fire at him from the front yard of a home on Vermont Road, the report states.

The victim got out of his vehicle and returned fire, police said. The four then began running down Park Gate Drive while firing back at him, the man told police.

Police found the teenage suspect and his firearm, a 9mm handgun, the report states.

No one was hit in the shootout, police say. Investigators say they were able to collect multiple 9mm shell casings along the side of Vermont Road.

A second witness, who lives on Vermont Drive, told police her home was struck by a bullet in the shootout. She said she was in her home when she saw the armed teen outside her window fire his gun multiple times. She then ran from the window and took her daughter to the other side of the house to take cover, she said.

A third witness, who lives at a nearby apartment, reported hearing two bursts of gunfire between 9:45 p.m. and 9:50 p.m.

The teenager was transported to the Department of Juvenile Justice, Jacobs said.

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