SUMTER, S.C. — A 13-year-old is dead, and a 12-year-old faces charges after a weekend shooting in Sumter.
The incident happened Sunday afternoon at a home on Flamingo Road, according to Sumter Police.
Officers say they got a call at 12:08 p.m. that the incident happened. When they arrived, they found 13-year-old Akeem Pugh with a gunshot wound near an unused parked car. Officers began giving him first aid, and Pugh was taken to Prisma Health Tuomey, where he was pronounced dead.
Neighbor Antonio Coplin says he saw police respond on Sunday afternoon.
"Shortly after I went in the house, my cousin came in and asked me if my younger cousin was in the house. I said no and she said 'Well there's a bunch of police that just went down the street, where he sits' so I hopped up and when I popped up I saw all the police sitting right there, and I ran down there to get my cousin, and when I ran down there to get my cousin, that's when I saw him on the ground crying so I picked him up and held him up, and that's why I started getting all the information... he held him and all, that was his best friend. all the little kids out here are friends," Coplin said.
"He was a good, caring, quiet person who played football and basketball," friend Aleeayah Mo'neek said. "He never bothers anyone, and he will be missed by everyone, and his friends Jayden, Shawn, Sincere, and Shymek love him."
Officers said a 12-year-old with him had been charged with involuntary manslaughter. A 17-year-old is charged with accessory before the fact.
Officials have not yet said what they think led up to the shooting. The names of the juveniles facing charges have not been released because of their ages. They are both being held at the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice.
The investigation into the shooting continues.
