Child shot when man blasts his way into Lexington County home, sheriff says
Three people, including a child, were injured in a recent shootout inside a West Columbia home, the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department said Wednesday.
On April 9, Jeremy Gerome Junious shot his way into the house on Drayton Hall Road and took the child, the sheriff’s department said in a news release. That’s near the junction of U.S. 176 and U.S. 321, about a mile from the South Carolina State Farmers Market.
The 34-year-old Columbia man was charged with attempted murder, discharging a firearm into a dwelling, first-degree burglary, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, and unlawful neglect of a child by a legal custodian, jail records show.
“Based on the interviews detectives have done and the evidence collected, Junious got into the home on Drayton Hall Drive early on the morning of April 9 after he shot through the doorknob,” Lexington County Sheriff Jay Koon said in the release. “Junious and the man inside the home shot at each other. Both men suffered gunshot wounds.”
Junious then ran upstairs, took his child from the home and left, according to Koon.
Responding “deputies made contact with Junious ... (and he) was in his car with the child in his lap. The child suffered a minor gunshot wound to the leg,” Koon said.
Junious, the other man in the shootout and the child were taken to a local hospital for treatment, according to the release. Junious was arrested Tuesday after he was released from the hospital.
Further information on the conditions of the child and the other man were not available.
Investigators believe the shooting stems from a custody dispute between Junious and the child’s mother, according to Koon.
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This story was originally published April 20, 2022 at 9:59 AM.
