Gunfire tore through the parking lot of a Dollar General on Racetrack Road in Sumter County late Tuesday, leaving two young men dead and a third wounded in what deputies are calling an active homicide investigation. One of the victims died at the scene after his car slammed into a tree as he tried to drive away from the scene; the other was rushed to a hospital, where he later died of his injuries.
According to WLTX, the shooting happened around 10:45 p.m. on October 6 at the Dollar General located at 830 Racetrack Road, after the store had already closed for the night. A store employee told investigators they had seen 20-year-old Keywaun Clark's car in the parking lot during evening closing procedures, though staff had finished shutting down before shots were fired.
Sumter County Deputy Chief Hampton Gardner said Clark was later found dead inside a vehicle that had crashed into a tree along Racetrack Road, with investigators believing he was trying to drive away from the incident location. He was pronounced dead at the scene by the coroner.
Two Victims Rushed to Hospital by Unknown Driver
Gardner said 19-year-old Derek Parson and a third victim, identified by the Sumter County Sheriff's Office as Antwone De'Monta Dukes, were transported to Prisma Health Tuomey Hospital by an unidentified third party. Investigators are still working to determine whether that driver was present during the shooting. Parson later succumbed to his gunshot injuries at the hospital. Law enforcement has not immediately disclosed details about Dukes's medical condition.
ABC Columbia reported that Sumter County Sheriff Anthony Dennis announced that deputies are investigating the shooting, which killed two people and injured a third near the intersection of Racetrack Road and US-521. The sheriff's office is asking anyone with information to call 803-436-2000 or Crimestoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC.
Autopsies Set, SLED Assisting Investigation
Sumter County Coroner Robbie Baker scheduled autopsies for both Clark and Parson for October 8 at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.
Sheriff Dennis confirmed that while no suspects have been formally charged, investigators have identified persons of interest and are receiving investigative assistance from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. No suspect descriptions have been released.
Part of a Troubling Local Pattern
The shooting lands amid a broader rise in fatal violence across Sumter County. In an annual report to the Sumter County Council in January, Dennis said homicides in the county nearly doubled to 11 in 2025, up from six in 2024, even as The Sumter Item reported that property crimes such as vehicle break-ins and burglaries saw multi-percent drops over the same period.
Dennis, a 41-year veteran of the sheriff's office who has served as sheriff since January 2005 and previously led the South Carolina Sheriffs' Association, joined the department in 1982 and rose through its patrol and narcotics divisions, according to the Sumter County Sheriff's Office.
What Comes Next Legally
No arrests have been made, but South Carolina law carries steep consequences for whoever is ultimately charged. Under South Carolina Code § 16-3-20, a murder conviction carries a mandatory minimum of 30 years to life in prison without parole, or the death penalty where statutory aggravating factors are proven, since the state treats murder as a single, non-degreed felony charge.
Attorney Jack Swerling notes that South Carolina homicide law permits prosecutors to seek capital punishment or life without parole when aggravating circumstances are established, such as knowingly endangering multiple lives in a public place or committing multiple homicides during a single act — circumstances that could be relevant given that two people died and a third was wounded in a commercial parking lot. Death penalty eligibility requires at least one statutory aggravator to be proven.
