Man shot woman, then led chase that ended with two drivers & dog dying in crash, police say
A woman was shot Saturday morning, and the suspected gunman led South Carolina law enforcement officers on a chase that ended in a multi-vehicle crash where two drivers and a dog were killed, according to the Columbia Police Department.
One of the drivers who died was the suspected gunman who “likely shot himself in the lower body while in his vehicle,” police said in a news release.
He was identified as 36-year-old Columbia resident Antavius J. Brown, according to Richland County Coroner Naida Rutherford.
“At no point did law enforcement officers discharge their duty weapons,” police said.
A man who was driving another one of the vehicles involved in the three-vehicle collision and also died was 52-year-old Columbia resident Ryan B. Haman, according to the coroner’s office.
The driver of a third vehicle involved in the wreck was hospitalized.
The woman, who was shot in her lower body, suffered what police called a non-life-threatening injury. Further information on her condition was not available.
No other injuries were reported.
Police said they got involved in the incident at about 11 a.m. when they responded to reports of a shooting at the Cross Hill Apartments in the 4400 block of Blossom Street. That’s near the intersection of Beltline Boulevard and Devine Street.
The shooting was domestic related, and the man accused of pulling the trigger, later identified as Brown, drove the victim to a local hospital, according to the release. Information about what led to the shooting was not available.
At the hospital, Brown made threats to return to the Blossom Street home and harm both juveniles inside and himself, police said.
Officers had a description of Brown’s vehicle, later described as a 2021 Dodge sedan by the South Carolina Highway Patrol, and found the car behind a business in the 4000 block of Leesburg Road, according to the release. That’s in the Hopkins area, and is in the jurisdiction of the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, prompting police to ask for help from deputies.
As officers tried to make contact with Brown to arrest him, he drove away and both law enforcement agencies got involved in a pursuit, police said.
Brown was driving the Dodge west on Garners Ferry Road and collided with the driver’s side of a 2001 Toyota SUV that was heading south on Hazelwood Road and turning left onto Garners Ferry Road, according to Master Trooper Mitchell Ridgeway of the Highway Patrol. That’s back in police jurisdiction, about 6 miles from where officers first saw the Dodge and 4 miles from where the shooting happened.
After the initial crash with the vehicle driven by Haman, the Dodge continued forward and hit the front of a 2005 Toyota sedan that was stopped at a traffic light while heading east on Garners Ferry Road, Ridgeway said.
All three drivers were taken to Prisma Health Richland hospital, where Brown and Haman died, Ridgeway said. Further information on the condition of the driver of the Toyota sedan was not available.
Haman’s dog also was in the Toyota SUV and was killed in the crash, police said.
Brown was live streaming during the initial police pursuit. Officers seized Brown’s gun from his vehicle at the crash scene, according to police.
The crash is being investigated by the Highway Patrol; the shooting is being investigated by police and the coroner’s office.
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This story was originally published December 28, 2024 at 3:08 PM with the headline "Man shot woman, then led chase that ended with two drivers & dog dying in crash, police say."
