‘I just want to know why you shot me’: York gunshot victim wants answers from suspect

Shooting victim Qdarius Hamer wants an answer from the man accused of shooting him Thursday outside a York store: “Why?”

Hamer, 25, was one of two people police say were shot Thursday by Darryl Ray Hinson Jr. Hamer was shot in the back of his shoulder with a shotgun that had birdshot in it.

“I am not an animal to be hunted,” Hamer said. “I just want to know why you shot me. Why you shot us? You shot us for no reason.”

Hamer was released from a Charlotte hospital after treatment for his injuries and is recovering at home in York.

Hamer ran to the Waffle House next door after he was shot. York Police Department Sgt. Kyle Cummings, who was a shooting victim himself in January when four officers were shot on a domestic violence call near York, aided Hamer who was lying on the floor bleeding.

Hamer and police have said the shooting victims did not know Hinson, who is from Rock Hill. No motive for the crime has been released. Police still are investigating why Hinson shot the men, said York Police Department Capt. Brian Trial.

Much of the incident was captured on store surveillance video, police said.

“We didn’t know this man,” Hamer said of the suspect. “Never saw him before.”

Mikell Christopher Harvey, 40, and another man were with Hamer at the store Thursday before 2 p.m.

“We just went to get some chips,” Hamer said. “A snack run.”

The trio pulled up to a spot outside the front door of the On the Run store and were “minding our own business,” Hamer said. The shooter, whom police later identified as Hinson, walked up to the men, Hamer said.

The suspect then went to get the shotgun out of his car, Hamer said.

Police said the video from the store shows Hinson go to his vehicle and pull out a shotgun. Hinson then shot Hamer and Harvey, police said.

“We all could have been gunned down,” Hamer said.

Police said they do not believe the attack was racially motivated.

Hamer said he does not know if the suspect had a racial problem with Hamer and his friends. What motivated the suspect to shoot Hamer and Harvey remains unclear.

“This man had hatred in his heart,” Hamer said.

Harvey, also of York, remained hospitalized Friday with injuries to his abdomen, police said.

This story was originally published September 7, 2018 at 3:11 PM.