04-05-2025
A vehicle was repossessed then shots were fired during a chase, SC cops say
A South Carolina man was arrested following a chase on Interstate 95 where shots were fired, according to the Sumter County Sheriff's Office.
Md Z Islam Epte, a 30-year-old Lynchburg resident, was charged with pointing and presenting a firearm on May 1, the sheriff's office said in a news release.
The incident began after a vehicle was repossessed, according to the release.
Deputies responded to a call about gunfire on Two Mile Road, the sheriff's office said. The caller, referred to as the victim by the sheriff's office, had just repossessed the vehicle and told an emergency dispatcher they were being pursued and targeted in a shooting, according to the release.
The victim told the dispatcher they were driving north on I-95 when the shooting suspect, later identified as Epte, was shining a light with a red dot at them and attempting to force them off the highway, the sheriff's office said.
Both the South Carolina Highway Patrol and the Florence County Sheriff's Office were alerted and positioned multiple units near mile marker 164, according to the release. When Epte's vehicle arrived, troopers and deputies conducted a traffic stop and detained him, the Sumter County Sheriff's Office said.
An AR-style rifle and a handgun were found during a search of the vehicle Epte was driving, and he was arrested, according to the release.
Epte was taken to the Sumter County Sheriff's Office Detention Center and released on $10,000 bond, the sheriff's office said.
Despite the arrest, both the shooting and chase continue to be investigated, according to the sheriff's office.
