Lynchburg, SC (WLTX) -- Sumter County deputies say two customers were shot during an armed robbery at a store on Lynches River Road, and one of them died.
Investigators with the Sumter County Sheriff's Office are searching for the suspects, who they say are wanted for armed robbery, attempted murder, car jacking, larceny and murder.
Investigators say the robbery happened at about 8:45 p.m. at the Money Saver convenience store when three masked men walked inside.
Deputies say the men took a store employee outside the store and took the man's 9 mm and told him they were going to kill him. Officials say the suspects then walked back inside the store and took an unknown amount of money from the cash register.
A female witness told deputies that 24-year-old Arris Jerome Smalls of Coward, SC was shot in the right shoulder. He then tried tried to leave the store, and fell to the ground. Another man, who officials identified as Jayshawn Lamarr Thompson of Lauderhill, FL, went to help the shooting victim.
Deputies say Thompson helped Smalls get inside a car that the witness was driving, and told them to go. That's when deputies say the car got stuck in a ditch, the suspects walked to the car, and they pulled Smalls out of the vehicle.
That's when deputies say the suspects told the other three people in the car to get out of it. Deputies say Thompson walked up to one of the suspects and tried to take the man's gun, but was shot in the chest. Thompson later died.
Investigators say the suspects then ran away toward a hotel, The Relax Inn, nearby. During the incident, the female witness said one of the men took her phone.
Smalls was airlifted to a Columbia hospital.
Investigators are searching for the identity of the suspects. If you can help them, you are urged to call CrimeStoppers of the Midlands at 1-888-CRIME-SC or text a tip to "CRIMES" beginning with the term "TIPSC."