NEWBERRY, S.C. — A man shot a mother and her 7-year-old child in Newberry County in what deputies are calling a domestic shooting.
The incident happened early Saturday morning at a home near the town of Newberry.
According to officers, the suspect, 26-year-old X'Zavier Sharif Davis, came to the door after midnight and found the door locked. Davis and the mother lived together at the home, as did two of the suspect's children.
But the mother and the children didn't come to the door, investigators say, because they were all asleep. The man was able to get into the home, and tarted verbally assaulting the victims, deputies say.
The mother then gather up her three children, left through the back door of the home, and got into her car. But as she was leaving, officers say Davis fired shots at the car, hitting it several times.
The mom was hit by the gunfire, and as she was driving herself to the hospital, she noticed her 7-year-old was also wounded. The 7-year-old is not Davis' child.
Deputies were called to the hospital around 3:15 a.m. They then went to the home, and say they found Davis still there.The door was locked, but after a brief time, deputies were able to talk the suspect into leaving the home, and took him into custody.
Officers say the 7-year-old had to be taken to Columbia for treatment because his injuries are so severe.
“It is bad enough for someone to get injured in an act of violence, but when you recklessly shoot into a car occupied by small children, your own children, it is simply despicable,” said Sheriff Lee Foster in a statement about the incident.
Davis is now being held at the Newberry County Detention Center, where he's charged with four counts of attempted murder.