A 21-year-old Lumberton, North Carolina man is facing two counts of attempted murder after the Marion County Sheriff’s Office says he shot one person in the leg and fired at a second person, missing, during a pre-dawn confrontation near Mullins last month. Ryan Joseph Hardenbergh was taken into custody and is now held at the Marion County Detention Center as he awaits a bond hearing before a circuit court judge.
According to the sheriff’s office, the shooting unfolded near the intersection of Highway 41 and Doctor Road outside Mullins. As reported by wmbfnews.com, deputies began investigating after receiving reports shortly after 1 a.m. on October 25 that a victim had been shot at McLeod Dillon. Hardenbergh allegedly shot one person in the leg and fired at a second person but missed, the sheriff’s office said.
Beyond the two attempted-murder counts, Hardenbergh also faces charges of possession of a weapon during a violent crime along with malicious injury to personal property and malicious injury to real property, per the same account. The sheriff’s office told the outlet its investigation into the shooting remains ongoing. A separate report from wbtw.com indicated Hardenbergh was arrested Thursday in connection with the incident, according to the sheriff’s office.
What South Carolina Law Says About the Charges
Under the South Carolina Code of Laws, attempted murder is defined as attempting to kill another person with intent to kill and malice aforethought, whether expressed or implied. The statute classifies the offense as a felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison upon conviction, according to the South Carolina Code of Laws Unannotated. With two counts filed against him, Hardenbergh faces the possibility of consecutive sentencing exposure tied to each alleged victim.
As first reported by WPDE, Hardenbergh is currently awaiting that bond hearing while held in the Marion County Detention Center. No additional details about the alleged property damage or the specific nature of the weapon involved have been released.
Part of a Busy Stretch for Marion County Shootings
The October 25 shooting outside Mullins comes amid a string of other gunfire incidents reported across Marion County in recent weeks, though nothing in the available reporting ties these cases together. A separate shooting injured two people on a Tuesday afternoon along Nelson Road in Mullins, according to wfxb.com, which reported that one victim was found inside a home while the other was taken to a hospital; neither victim’s condition was disclosed.
Another shooting left multiple people injured early on a Saturday morning in the 4000 block of Zion Road, based on a sheriff’s office Facebook post cited by wbtw.com. In that case, the sheriff’s office did not say how many people were hurt or release details about the circumstances. Investigators have not connected any of these incidents to the Highway 41 and Doctor Road shooting attributed to Hardenbergh.
