Update: Report reveals details about Bluffton stabbing that left father, brother injured
A Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office report reveals new details about an incident in which a Bluffton man allegedly stabbed family members during an altercation on Wednesday.
Raleigh Ward Jr., 38, allegedly stabbed his father and brother around 5:30 p.m. on Cape Jasmine Street, the same street the suspect lives on, the report said. He faces two counts of attempted murder, according to the report.
The brother had a puncture wound on the right side of his head about 3 inches above his ear and a large laceration just above the ear, the report said. The report did not say what injuries the father sustained. Both men were transported to Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah and in stable condition.
When deputies arrived, Ward was standing in front of his camper with his arms in the air and blood on his arms and face, the report said. He was immediately detained.
An open folding knife with a 3-inch blade was lying on the ground beside a firepit nearby, the report said. Ward told deputies it was his knife but he didn’t put it there, the report said.
Ward was booked into the Beaufort County Detention Center hours after the incident and remained there as of late Friday morning, according to the jail log.
Cape Jasmine Street is located in a small residential community off S.C. 170. The neighborhood sits between the Pritchardville Solid Waste site and Lawton Station and is southeast of the entrance to Mill Creek at Cypress Ridge.
The stabbing took place about 2 miles away from a fatal shooting at a Wendy’s in September. Aki Da Ron Franklin, 23, was arrested for the shooting that killed Abraham Gadson, 29, of Bluffton.
This story was originally published December 20, 2018 at 9:52 AM.
