LANCASTER COUNTY, S.C. — Authorities in the Upstate say they have taken a suspect they believe shot a man dead near the ticket office of a busy local race track into custody.
According to the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office, the incident happened during the last race of the night at Lancaster Motor Speedway just before 11 p.m. on Saturday. In a statement, the sheriff said that deputies were working at the track during the event and responded to an area just inside the front gate where they found a 53-year-old man, later identified as Rodney Cunningham of Heath Springs, with apparent gunshot wounds.
And while deputies attempted to help the man until emergency medical services took him for treatment, the man later died of his wounds at Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) Lancaster Medical Center.
The initial sheriff's office statement said a large crowd was on-hand for the races but deputies were able to quickly secure the scene and begin interviewing witnesses. At the time, Sheriff Barry Faile said he believed several people likely saw the shooter and "all of the events leading up to and including the shooting."
"We have identified some of them but encourage others who we have not talked with to call the sheriff's office and tell us what they know," the sheriff said in the department's statement.
No one else was injured in the shooting.
Around 10 a.m. on Sunday, the sheriff's office announced that a person had been taken into custody after "an extensive manhunt."
Anyone with additional details regarding the shooting is urged to contact the Lancaster County Sheriff's Office at 803-283-3388 or Crime Stoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC.