COLUMBIA, S.C. — Two Sumter residents are dead following a shooting early Sunday morning at the Sleep Inn on Broad Street, according to the Sumter Police Department.
The victims have been identified as 20-year-old Saquan Logan and 19-year-old Demari Spann, the Sumter County Coroner's Office confirmed.
No arrests have been made in connection with the shooting, and police are continuing their investigation.
Family members of Saquan Logan said they are struggling to comprehend the sudden loss.
“I feel like it was the wrong place at the wrong time because, like I stated, Saquan isn’t a troublemaker. He doesn’t get into anything,” a family member said. “I can’t really imagine who would do this to Saquan because he would just work, come home, and play games.”
The grieving process is even more difficult for Logan’s mother, who is still mourning the loss of another son to gun violence.
“She’s still grieving her other son that passed away, that got killed in November of last year,” the family member said.
Guests at the Sleep Inn were startled awake by the sound of gunfire around 4:30 a.m.
“We went and hid between the beds,” one guest said.
When police arrived at the hotel, they found both victims dead at the scene.
An inn guest visiting from Atlanta described the chaos that followed the shooting.
“After the gunfire, I looked out the peephole and saw a kid panicking at the elevator—you could tell there was blood,” the guest said. “After that, we looked out the window and saw people running toward the Candlewood. It was about two or three running that way, then three or four took off in front of the hotel.”
Daylight revealed the extent of the crime scene, with bullet holes visible on the side of the building and shards of glass scattered on the ground.
A hotel employee, who asked to remain anonymous, shared her initial reaction upon arriving at work and seeing the police presence.
“I was just shocked. It got my nerves up, actually," she said. "This has never happened here before. It’s just sad."
“I about cried last night because we had our window open, and when the parents pulled up, she just started screaming like it was bloody murder," the Atlanta guest said. "We had to shut the window. It was horrible. I felt horrible.”
Autopsies for both victims are scheduled for Wednesday at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston.
The Sumter Police Department is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. Anyone with information is urged to call CrimeStoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC.