Three violent incidents erupted within a two-hour span in the predawn hours of Sunday, Aug. 2, in Washington County, leaving one man hospitalized with multiple bullet wounds and a house at a second location riddled with gunfire.
In a report filed prior to the Beacon’s Sunday deadline, Washington County Sheriff’s Investigator Phillip Hassell offered available preliminary information from the three back to-back scenes.
He identified the Backwoods Road shooting victim as Josiah Lewis, 28, who relocated to the area from Florida at an unspecified time. Lewis’ vehicle still bears Florida tags.
The shooting occurred at a “hangout” at 2871 Backwoods Road, resulting in multiple gunshot wounds to the victim and the recovery of an unspecified number of 9 mm rounds at the scene. Lewis was reported in stable condition at Greenville’s ECU Health as of Sunday evening.
Hassell said eyewitnesses to the attack identified the potential suspect, but
no arrest has been as of late Sunday.
While deputies were still at the shooting scene, they were diverted to Sandhill
Road at about 3:43 a.m. for reports of gunshots fired into a dwelling. There, they discovered multiple bullet holes in various sections of the residence at 362 Sandhill Road — the same house where DEA agents executed a drug bust in mid-July. Two suspects charged in that July 16 arrest were released on bond the same day.
A neighboring surveillance camera captured images of a vehicle fleeing the scene, Hassell said.
That vehicle matched the description of the one driven by the Backwoods Road shooting victim, leading to its seizure.
During the Sandhill Road response, 911 dispatchers received a third call, this time reporting a threat made by a suspect or suspects with a firearm at about 4:11 a.m. No further details on that incident were released.