Shooting leads to manhunt, arrest of 21-year-old woman, 2 teens in Jasper County
An all-out manhunt in Ridgeland on Monday night involving 30 law enforcement officers, a helicopter and a K9 unit resulted in the arrest of three suspects who authorities said had been firing upon a house.
The shooters left a trail of bullet casings near the house on Grahamville Road before escaping into the woods, according to Jasper County Det. Sgt. Jake Higgins. Nearby Jasper County sheriff deputies were called in to secure the woods’ perimeter, totaling 30 deputies and Sheriff Chris Malphrus, Higgins said.
Deputies surrounded the wooded area and, after searching with a state law enforcement helicopter and K9 tracking units, arrested two suspects, both juveniles, at 12:30 a.m., said Higgins. Two hours later, a third suspect, Shania Douglas, 21, was arrested.
One of the juveniles is charged with unlawful carrying of a pistol. The other is charged with violating probation. Douglas faces a drug charge and also is accused of contributing to delinquency of a minor, according to Higgins.
None of the five people in the house, including a 13-month-old baby, was injured in the shooting.
Gun charges for all three suspects are pending as law enforcement authorities await test results from weapons found at the scene, including a gun discovered in the woods by a K9 unit. The two juveniles have been sent to the Department of Juvenile Justice in Columbia to await court hearings.
The house on Grahamville Road had been shot up more than 10 times before in the past three years, Higgins said. He said the shooting on Monday night was the latest in a long-standing feud between two families. As such, deputies came out in full force to catch the shooters, who had in the past evaded capture in the woods.
This story was originally published March 17, 2020 at 5:21 PM.
