NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. – Deputies from the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO) responded to reports of a shooting on the 700 block of Tupelo Forest Drive in Awendaw early Tuesday morning, September 17, 2024. The incident occurred shortly after 5 a.m., when a victim reported being shot at by another vehicle while driving northbound on Highway 17 near Bulls Bay Boulevard.
The victim, who later stopped at a nearby gas station, told deputies they noticed a dark SUV parked on the side of the road. After making a lane change to avoid the vehicle, they heard multiple gunshots. The victim, fortunately unharmed, immediately pulled over and contacted law enforcement.
Shortly after the shooting was reported, the Mount Pleasant Police Department alerted CCSO that they had stopped a possible suspect vehicle near the intersection of Highway 17 and Highway 41. The driver of the vehicle, identified as 23-year-old Vaneil Lamaar Morehead, confessed to the shooting during the traffic stop. Morehead also admitted to consuming Psilocybin mushrooms prior to the incident.
Morehead was taken into custody and booked at the Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center. He faces several charges, including one count of Attempted Murder, one count of Possession of a Weapon During a Violent Crime, one count of being a Habitual Traffic Offender, and one count of Possession of Another Controlled Substance.
The investigation remains ongoing, and CCSO has not reported any injuries from the incident.
