Midlands man opened fire on two people then crashed car trying to escape, SC cops say

A Midlands man was charged with multiple crimes, including attempted murder, after shooting at two people then leading law enforcement officers on a chase that ended in a crash, the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office said.

In addition to two counts of attempted murder, 24-year-old Sumter resident Cameron Nicholas Benjamin faces weapons charges for unlawful carrying of a pistol, discharging firearms into a dwelling, and possessing a weapon during violent crime, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.

Benjamin was also charged with failure to stop for a blue light following the March 6 shooting and chase, according to the release.

Armed with a black Ruger .380 pistol, Benjamin shot into an East Patricia Drive home attempting to kill two people who had run inside, the sheriff’s office said.

Neither of Benjamin’s targets were injured, sheriff’s office spokesman Mark Bordeaux told The State, but the home and two vehicles were damaged by gunfire. Information about a motive for the shooting was not available.

Benjamin left multiple spent shells on the ground at the scene as he drove away in a Ford Mustang, according to the release.

The shooting was reported and a deputy on patrol in the area saw a car matching that description and tried to make a traffic stop, the sheriff’s office said.

Benjamin did not pull over, but instead continued driving away, leading law enforcement on a chase before the Mustang ran off the road at the end of Brand Street and Watkins Street, according to the sheriff’s office. That’s near Manning Avenue, about 2 miles from where the shooting happened.

The car crossed Watkins Street and crashed into a fence on private property, Bordeaux said. Although he was injured in the wreck, Benjamin got out of the car and tried to run away from law enforcement officers, but was soon detained, according to the release.

Benjamin told the deputy he was involved in the shooting on East Patricia Drive, and the pistol was found during a search of the Mustang, the sheriff’s office said.

Benjamin was taken to a hospital in Columbia where he was treated for multiple injuries he suffered in the crash, according to the release.

No other injuries were reported.

After getting discharged from the hospital, Benjamin was booked into the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office Detention Center on March 9, court records show.

Bond was set at $240,000 on the combined charges and Benjamin was equipped with electronic monitoring when he was released, the sheriff’s office said. He was released the same day he was arrested, according to court records.

Bordeaux said that Benjamin is currently at home and under a doctor’s care, and no future court appearances were listed in the judicial records.

Despite the arrest, Bordeaux said an investigation into the shooting is ongoing.

This is not the first time Benjamin has been arrested in Sumter County for a violent crime.

He’s also facing pending weapons charges (discharging firearms into a dwelling and unlawful carrying of pistol) from a Dec. 31, 2020 arrest, court records show. He was released from jail Jan. 2, 2021 after posting $6,000 bond on the combined charges, according to court records.