After SC State shootings, SLED charges Lexington man for gun possession
Another person has been arrested in relation to the multiple shootings at South Carolina State University that killed one and injured two others over homecoming weekend on Oct. 4, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division announced Thursday.
Jimmy Lee Thompson, Jr., an 18-year-old from Lexington County, was charged with carrying a weapon on school property, according to a news release. He was booked into the Orangeburg County Detention Center.
Thompson had a loaded handgun that SLED found under a chair in a common area at the Hugine Suites Building, a student residence hall at S.C. State, according to an arrest warrant. Thompson had been sleeping in the chair and was the only occupant of the common area at the time.
The First Circuit Solicitor’s Office will prosecute the case.
Thompson is the second person to be charged in the incidents. Matthew Daniel McCoy, an 18-year-old Blythewood resident, was charged with pointing and presenting a firearm at a person and carrying a weapon on school property.
A woman was killed in the first of the shootings at the university’s campus in Orangeburg, SLED said. She was identified as Jaliyah Butler, a 19-year-old Saluda resident.
A man was hospitalized after being hit by gunfire in the second shooting. Another person was injured while running from the scene of the first shooting.
None of the victims were S.C. State students, according to university officials.
SLED is still actively investigating the shootings at S.C. State, and the FBI is providing technical assistance with digital media analysis.
Those with information are asked to contact SLED at 866-472-8477 or via email at tips@sled.sc.gov. Any video footage or recordings can be uploaded to fbi.gov/scstateuniversityshootings.
