Alex Murdaugh called 911 himself after he was shot in the head, cops confirm
HAMPTON COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA: South Carolina's Murdaugh family patriarch Alex Murdaugh was shot in the head on Saturday, September 4, 2021. The incident occurred a little less than three months after his wife Margaret (Maggie) and son Paul Murdaugh were killed on June 7, 2021.
Murdaugh, whose father and grandfather were top prosecutors in the state’s 14th Circuit, was flown to Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah, Georgia, for treatment of a “superficial” head wound. In a statement, a family spokesperson said the Murdaugh family has “suffered more than one family could ever imagine.” They added, “We expect him to make a full recovery.” For decades, the Murdaugh family has dominated the legal scene in five counties of Lowcountry, South Carolina.
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According to reports, the day after Alex Murdaugh, who has been named a person of interest in the recent murders of his wife and son, was shot, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) said that he called 911 to report that he’d been shot on Old Salkehatchie Road near Varnville, South Carolina, at 1.34 pm on Saturday. The shooting occurred about seven miles from Moselle, the family hunting lodge where the bodies of his 52-year-old wife and their 22-year-old son were found.
As per reports, the Hampton County Sheriff’s Office first responded to the scene and dispatched SLED for assistance at 2.41 pm. The sheriff’s office requested that SLED lead the investigation.
Murdaugh family attorney Jim Griffin told reporters that Alex stopped on the side of the road after experiencing “car trouble” while traveling to Charleston, South Carolina, from his home in Islandton. However, the location of the shooting is out of the way from the direct route to Charleston from Islandton.
“A black Mercedes-Benz SUV driven by Alex Murdaugh was initially processed and ultimately towed from the scene to a law enforcement impound lot for further evaluation,” SLED officials said in their statement. “As we have previously stated, we cannot and will not do anything that could jeopardize the integrity of this or any potentially related investigation or that would violate the due process afforded to all in our constitutional system of justice,” SLED officials said.
“SLED is committed to conducting a professional and thorough criminal investigation,” the agency’s statement said. “SLED is further committed to transparency and will provide any additional releasable information at the appropriate time.” Fox News reported that no arrests had been made two days after the shooting. An insider source revealed to New York Post, “There’s a long list of people they rubbed the wrong way, that’s for sure."
At the time of his death, Paul Murdaugh was facing three felony charges for boating "under the influence" in connection with a 2019 boat crash that killed 19-year-old Mallory Beach. Paul’s death certificate reportedly says that he was killed by two shotgun wounds to the head and chest. Maggie Murdaugh was reportedly shot and killed by a semi-automatic rifle at or around the time her son was killed. At least one of the weapons used in the double homicide belonged to the Murdaugh family. No arrests have been made in the double homicide either.