A 34-year-old Lizard's Thicket employee accidentally shot himself in the lower leg Sunday evening while reaching into his personal bag for Chapstick, according to a Forest Acres Police Department incident report and release. Thomas Montgomery was rushed to surgery, and because he is a convicted felon, he now faces a felony charge for possessing the handgun in the first place.
Dispatchers received the 911 call at roughly 6:16 p.m. Sunday reporting a man shot inside the restaurant at 3147 Forest Drive, according to The Post and Courier. Forest Acres officers arrived within one minute of dispatch and provided emergency first aid to stabilize Montgomery before paramedics could take over, per WLTX. Forest Acres is an independent suburban city encircled by Columbia, according to the same report.
EMS transported Montgomery to Prisma Health Richland Hospital in Columbia, where he was taken into surgery for the gunshot wound, the Post and Courier reports. The hospital operates a major Level I trauma center serving the Midlands region. No other people were injured in the incident, according to WYFF.
A .22-Caliber Revolver Seized as Evidence
Officers seized a .22-caliber revolver at the scene as evidence in the ongoing investigation, the Post and Courier's reporting shows. Police say the discharge happened as Montgomery reached into his bag for another item — identified as Chapstick in the incident report — and the firearm went off accidentally. He was subsequently charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, a felony, per WYFF.
What South Carolina Law Says About Felons and Firearms
Under South Carolina Code § 16-23-500, people convicted of offenses punishable by more than a year in prison are generally barred from possessing firearms or ammunition, with exceptions for specified business-related offenses, certain misdemeanors, and some convictions that have been expunged, set aside, pardoned, or had civil rights restored. A violation can carry a felony charge and up to five years in prison for a first offense, according to Justia. State law also mandates that any firearm involved in such a violation be confiscated. Separately, federal law under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) bars convicted felons from owning or possessing firearms and ammunition nationwide. The general maximum penalty is 10 years in prison; a person with three or more qualifying violent-felony or drug-trafficking convictions faces a 15-year mandatory minimum, the Shealey Law Firm notes. Restoration of firearm rights by the state that entered the conviction also restores federal rights.
The case lands against the backdrop of South Carolina's broader shift on gun rights. The state enacted its Constitutional Carry/Second Amendment Preservation Act of 2024 in March of that year, permitting permitless handgun carry for law-abiding adults while keeping strict prohibitions intact for convicted felons, according to the South Carolina Legislature. Separately, South Carolina Code § 23-31-220 explicitly affirms that private and public employers can prohibit employees and visitors from carrying firearms, concealed or open, anywhere on workplace premises or in company vehicles — a protection employers can enforce through handbooks or posted signage, per Justia's summary of the statute.
A Columbia-Area Institution Since 1977
Lizard's Thicket is a family-owned Southern meat-and-three chain founded in Columbia in December 1977 by Bob and Anna Williams, according to a 2017 Post and Courier feature on the restaurant's history. The chain's unusual name was reportedly inspired by a former 1960s steakhouse in Alabama. Today the company employs more than 600 workers across 13 to 15 locations throughout South Carolina's Midlands and Florence regions, operated by two generations of the Williams family, according to Lizard's Thicket's own history page. It remains known across the state for affordable home-style cooking.
It is not yet known whether Lizard's Thicket maintains a written employee policy prohibiting weapons on premises, nor has the prior felony conviction that triggered Montgomery's charge been disclosed. Whether federal prosecutors will separately pursue charges under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) once Montgomery is released from the hospital also remains an open question.
