Alex Murdaugh, dad and husband of murder victims, shot in head in Hampton Co., lawyer says
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Murdaugh murders in Colleton County
Two members of a powerhouse legal family were shot and killed June 7 in Colleton County, SC. Read more of our coverage.
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This story first published Sept. 4, 2021. For the latest on this story, click here.
Hampton lawyer Alex Murdaugh, whose wife and younger son were shot to death in June, was shot Saturday afternoon on a rural road in Hampton County.
Murdaugh, 53, received “a superficial gunshot wound to the head,” the S.C. Law Enforcement Division said Sunday. He is recovering in a Savannah hospital after the shooting on Salkehatchie Road, according to his lawyer Jim Griffin.
Alex Murdaugh was on his way to Charleston on Saturday when he had car trouble and stopped, Griffin said.
A truck passed Murdaugh, turned around and came back, and someone in the truck shot him, according to Griffin. He didn’t know how many shots. The information, he said, was relayed to him through Murdaugh’s brother Randy, who called him at 2:15 p.m.
Murdaugh was airlifted to Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah, his lawyer said, and was able to speak with family members by cellphone from the hospital.
The family released a statement late Saturday afternoon.
“The Murdaugh family has suffered through more than any one family can ever imagine. We expect Alex to recover and ask for your privacy while he recovers,” the statement said.
What happened?
Reached by phone, Hampton County Sheriff T. C. Smalls said he could confirm only that “someone has been shot.” He said his office is in the first phase of investigating and can’t yet release any information on the shooting.
Smalls said late Saturday afternoon that deputies were still on the scene at Salkehatchie Road, a main road running through eastern Hampton County.
A representative from Hampton County Fire-Rescue told a reporter at the scene that the agency was called there around 1:30 p.m. He declined to give his name.
The Hampton County Sheriff’s Office requested SLED’s help in investigating “a shooting that occurred in Hampton County” on Saturday, according to agency spokesperson Tommy Crosby. He said SLED is leading the investigation.
On June 7, Murdaugh’s wife, Maggie, and son Paul were both found shot to death at their Colleton County estate. Murdaugh’s father, grandfather and great-grandfather ran the 14th Circuit Solicitor’s Office for nearly a century.
Paul Murdaugh, 22, a student at the University of South Carolina, was shot in the head and upper body with a shotgun, while his mother, 52, was killed with what appeared to be an assault rifle, sources familiar with the investigation said, adding that casings were recovered at the scene. Their bodies were found separated from one another.
Their deaths have prompted national interest and speculation around South Carolina, especially in the state’s legal and law enforcement communities, where Alex Murdaugh, his law firm and his family are widely known.
Nearly three months later, SLED has yet to make an arrest or announce a suspect or a motive.
This story has been corrected to reflect that Alex Murdaugh was taken to a hospital in Savannah, not Charleston, as his lawyer originally told The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.
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This story was originally published September 4, 2021 at 3:55 PM with the headline "Alex Murdaugh, dad and husband of murder victims, shot in head in Hampton Co., lawyer says."
