Hunting turf dispute ends with three dead, one wounded in South Carolina, sheriff says

Three men were killed and a fourth person was wounded when an argument over hunting turf escalated to a gunfight in the dark, according to investigators in Upstate South Carolina.

The shooting erupted around 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 27, near a home on Griffin Road in the Woodruff area, the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

“Upon arrival, deputies discovered three deceased victims and also learned a fourth shooting victim had been transported by a personal vehicle to a hospital in Simpsonville with non life threatening injuries,” the sheriff’s office said.

“Once some witnesses were separated and interviewed, it appears this incident stemmed from a dispute over who had permission to be on this particular place of hunting land.”

Witnesses of the violence included “family members of the decedents,” the sheriff’s office said.

Investigators have not said what prompted the dispute to turn deadly or how many people fired weapons.

The three who died were identified as Paul Higgins, 38, Jeremy Faulkner, 34 and Nicolas Long, 22, according to WHNC. Higgins and Faulkner were from Woodruff and Long was from nearby Greenville, the station reported.

Relatives of Jeremy Faulkner report he died while defending his friends.

“(You) reacted to a situation that took another brother’s life and it cost (you) your life,” one post read.

Woodruff, a town of about 4,400 people, is an 80-mile drive northwest from Columbia.

This story was originally published September 30, 2024 at 1:24 PM with the headline "Hunting turf dispute ends with three dead, one wounded in South Carolina, sheriff says."