Teen might have been hallucinating when he killed a person and hurt another, SC cops say
A teenager ate gummies that might have been laced with hallucinogenic drugs before shooting two people, killing one of them, at a South Carolina home, the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office said Saturday.
The shooting happened Friday at 336 Cardinal Road, the sheriff’s office said in a news release. That’s in Elloree, in area of Calhoun County that’s between Interstate 26 and Lake Marion.
On Friday, deputies responded to a report of a shooting at the home, according to the release.
There were two victims, and one died at the scene, the sheriff’s office said.
The Calhoun County Coroner’s Office said 19-year-old Darius Aiken was the victim who died, WLTX reported.
The other victim was flown to Prisma Health Richland hospital, according to the release. Further information on the surviving victim’s condition was not available.
No other injuries were reported.
At the home, deputies made contact with a man and his 16-year-old son, the sheriff’s office said. Deputies determined that the teen ate marijuana gummies that possibly were laced with a hallucinogen, and he was taken to the sheriff’s office headquarters to be interviewed, according to the release.
During the interview, the teen told deputies that he began “feeling hot” after eating the gummies, and when he entered the kitchen, he believed that he saw two individuals “wearing white masks,” according to the release. Although the teen thought the individuals were in masks, their faces actually were not covered, the sheriff’s office said.
The teen then said that he went to his father’s bedroom and got a shotgun, cocked it, and returned to the kitchen where he shot one of the individuals and also fired at the other who was then running away, according to the release.
The teen, whose name was not made public because he’s a minor, will be charged with murder, attempted murder and possession of a weapon during a violent offense, the sheriff’s office said.
There was no word if the teen’s father, or anyone else, would face charges.
Information about the victims’ connection, if any, to the teen and his father was not available.
There was no word if the teen is being held at a South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice facility, or another jail, or if he was released to his father’s custody.
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