Perps open fire, blasting out woman’s car windows in scary Seabrook road rage attack
This unknown and apparently angry driver on a Beaufort County highway took “calling shotgun” way too far.
A Beaufort woman told police she was driving on Trask Pkwy near Seabrook around 5:30 p.m. Thursday when a driver pulled up to her left, stuck a gun out his window and fired multiple rounds at her car. The woman wasn’t shot, but the shattered glass from her two front windows gave her minor cuts, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
The shooting was likely a product of road rage, as the suspect driver had been “camping” behind the woman and possibly thought she was going too slow, said Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Master Sgt. Danny Allen. The woman told police she “didn’t have problems with anyone” and doubted the incident could have resulted from her being targeted.
Although the woman could not give police a detailed description of the car or its two occupants, Beaufort County deputies are investigating Thursday’s incident. If identified, the shooter would face felony charges of attempted murder and discharging firearms at a vehicle, Allen said.
In addition to the two broken windows, the shooting shattered a side mirror and left at least one bullet hole in the car’s driver-side door. Allen would not say how many shots were fired, but the woman told police she heard “two pops” when the shooting took place.
Other road rage crimes in Beaufort County
Road rage turning violent isn’t uncommon in Beaufort County. Police wrote at least 10 reports involving road rage between April 2022 and April 2023, with three of those ending in criminal charges.
In April of this year, a 25-year-old Hilton Head woman was charged with attempted murder after she allegedly ran over a man’s legs twice in a Burger King parking lot on the island. Police said the incident started with a mid-traffic dispute between the two drivers on the nearby Cross Island Pkwy.
Some researchers believe road rage gets worse in high-temp conditions. As South Carolinians feel the local effects of a global heat wave, the state’s Department of Public Safety recently warned travelers to “stay cool” on roadways, even while dealing with reckless or inconsiderate drivers.
