Report saying Alex Murdaugh had no ‘visible injury’ likely an error, SC sheriff says
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Alex Murdaugh Coverage
The Murdaugh family saga has dominated the news after another shooting, a resignation and criminal accusations — with Alex Murdaugh at the center of it all. Here are the latest updates on Alex Murdaugh.
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This story has been updated with comments from Hampton County Sheriff T.C. Smalls.
A police report made public Thursday in the shooting of Alex Murdaugh says the Hampton lawyer suffered no “visible injury,” but the Hampton County sheriff says that’s likely a computer error.
The report, released by the Hampton County Sheriff’s Office, includes little information about the shooting, raising questions about what happened on Sept. 4. The incident is described in the report as an attempted murder.
The Sheriff’s Office checked three separate boxes in the report saying Murdaugh did not suffer a “visible injury” and was not using alcohol or drugs.
Called Thursday, Hampton County Sheriff T.C. Smalls said the box was probably checked in error and said he would confirm whether the report was accurate.
“He did have an injury,” Smalls said. “That probably was a mistake. I will check on that.”
Smalls said police out of Varnville first responded to the scene of the shooting because his deputies were “tied up” on the southside of the county.
Deputies were en route to the scene when they learned Murdaugh, 53, had been shot in the head and was being airlifted to Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah, according to the report.
A Sheriff’s Office investigator, Cpl. Kendrell Henderson, spoke with Murdaugh before he was flown out. The report does not say what they talked about.
Smalls said he would speak with Henderson about his interaction with Murdaugh.
A Tuesday press release by the Hampton County Sheriff’s Office states that deputies were dispatched to the scene of the shooting at 1:55 p.m. Saturday — 21 minutes after the S.C. Law Enforcement Division says Murdaugh called 911.
A day before the shooting, Murdaugh resigned from his family law firm after the firm confronted him with allegations of misappropriating funds, according to the firm.
Two days after the shooting, Murdaugh announced publicly that he was entering drug treatment and issued a vague apology to “everyone I’ve hurt, including my family, friends and colleagues.”
According to the incident report, police have not identified a suspect.
Murdaugh called 911 in the shooting, according to the S.C. Law Enforcement Division, which is now leading the investigation.
His wife and son, Paul and Maggie, were found shot to death on June 7 in Colleton County. Both Saturday’s shooting and the June murders remain unsolved.
This story was originally published September 9, 2021 at 12:00 PM.
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