Two trucks sought in I-85 shootings

Greenville city police beefed up patrols along Mauldin Road on Friday. (Ken Osburn/Staff) e-mail this story Related Related stories: • Shot missed tragedy by inches • People wonder, worry after incident on I-85 • Highway shootings hard cases to crack • Public, media helped find suspect in Ohio sniper case

Investigators spent Friday interviewing potential witnesses, Greenville County Sheriff's Office spokesman Michael Hildebrand said.

Deputies patrolled the area near the Mauldin Road interchange and State 291 throughout the day in a visible presence they said was designed to deter further incidents.

Investigators would not say if they had any suspects. In the afternoon, authorities said they were on the lookout for two vehicles — a red Dodge Dakota extended-cab truck and a gold or pewter Chevrolet Yukon, both of which were reported seen in the area at the time of the shooting.

But as of late Friday, investigators were not releasing details surrounding the shootings, including the type and caliber of the gun or where the shots may have come from — or whether they had answers to those questions.

They would not say whether they had located bullets or shell casings. And they would not rule out the possibility the weapon was a pellet gun, though they said witness accounts of hearing gunfire would seem to rule that out.

"We're looking for anything that may lead us to how many people were involved and where they were at," Hildebrand said. "There's going to be a lot of evidence that's going to be right there in that area."

Sheriff's deputies said a bullet struck a Chevrolet pickup about 9:35 p.m. Thursday as the truck traveled south at the Mauldin Road interchange, according to the incident report.

The bullet, apparently shot from behind the vehicle, went through the rear window, traveled through the cab, barely missing the driver, and struck the front windshield just above the dash, according to a police report.

The driver, identified by police as Amy Garrett Brock, was hurt when flying glass cut her cheek, the police report said.

About 30 minutes later, a GMC van was hit just as the driver exited onto Mauldin Road. He told police he heard what sounded like a blown tire and pulled over to see what happened, according to the report.

The driver, Curtis Thompson of Greenville, said, "Everybody in the car could have been killed."

Officers said the passenger-side door appeared to have been damaged by gunfire.

According to the police report, the trajectory of the bullet that hit the pickup appeared somewhat level, although sheriff's deputies would not speculate about where the shots may have been fired from.

Deputies used helicopters and dog teams to search a two-mile radius Thursday night. They reported finding no signs of the shooting, and the interstate reopened by morning.

Investigators returned to the scene Friday in hope of locating evidence, said Capt. Terence Brooks, who declined to say what officers were looking for.

"It is an active investigation, and sometimes if you give out too much information it might compromise the investigation," Brooks said. "There's an apprehension to be made, and we want to make sure we're not going to do anything that's going to hinder that."

The FBI was notified of the shooting, but the sheriff's office requested no assistance, and no other agencies are involved with the investigation, Brooks said.

Friday morning, some working at nearby gas stations, fast-food restaurants and motels said they were unaware of the shootings. "It was probably nothing," said Dwayne Friar, who works at the Tire Kingdom on Pleasantburg Drive.

The roadside in the area of the shooting is a mix of tree lines and water runoff ditches. An 8-foot chain-link fence topped with barbed wire prevents people from getting to the interstate from the frontage road.

By early Friday afternoon — as a moderate amount of traffic flowed through the area — there was no visible sign a shooting had taken place the night before.

Officers patrolled the surrounding area, Brooks said, and the agency's blue-and-gold squad cars could be spotted rolling along nearby side roads.

"We're having a presence out there in case there is similar activity or to deter similar activity," Brooks said. "We are patrolling very vigorously." Staff writers John Boyanoski and April M. Silvaggio contributed to this report.