Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Hunting accident or felony murder?

Or a shotgun....

Capital murder.

Hunting at the community park, I don’t think so. Race based murder, yup.

Richardson said police were made aware that hunters were sometimes reported near the walking trail. He said the sheriff's office is working with Summerville Police Chief Doug Wright to step up patrols of the area. He said it's one of the few green spaces in the area that does not allow visitors at night. Generally, Summerville parks are open until 10 p.m., he said.

SUMMERVILLE — A hunter who fired a 20-gauge shotgun at a couple on a walking trail told a magistrate Oct. 31 he knew he wasn't supposed to be hunting near the path.

Kristofer Kelle McDonald, 20, of Summerville, turned himself into the Dorchester Sheriff's Office on Oct. 30 after he killed a woman and wounded her husband as they were walking their dog at night.

Police said McDonald mistook the couple for a deer when he fired his shotgun at them. Lori Wind, a 54-year-old Summerville resident, died at the scene.

The sheriff's office charged him with involuntary manslaughter and assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, according to arrest warrants.

The S.C. Department of Natural Resources has charged him with night hunting and two counts of negligent use of a firearm resulting in death and great bodily harm.

Dorchester County Magistrate Judge Tara Frost set a $400,000 cash surety bond for McDonald on Oct. 31.

McDonald appeared by video before Frost. He told the judge he didn't think he was a bad person and said the shooting was an accident.

"I knew I wasn't supposed be out there," McDonald said from jail.

McDonald does not have an attorney. Frost reminded him against incriminating himself.

First Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe's office will decide whether to prosecute.

About 10 of his family members packed into a small Dorchester County bond courtroom as Frost decided whether to release him from custody. McDonald lives with his family. His father said his son is not a flight risk and would work 12-hour shifts at his company once released.

His father told Frost he would remove all other firearms from their home.

In a news conference before the bond hearing, Dorchester County Chief Deputy Sam Richardson declined to say whether McDonald owned the shotgun, if he had a hunting permit or any hunter safety training.

Richardson said McDonald and his family are cooperating with the investigation.

Richardson said he didn't know if McDonald or the victims were using a flashlight or any other kind of illumination or low-light vision equipment. He said police do not think there was any residual daylight from sunset and that the walking trail does not have cameras.

He declined to say about how far away McDonald was when he shot at the couple.

"There is no excuse for being reckless with a firearm," he said.

At about 8:15 p.m. Oct. 29, Wind and her husband were walking their dog along the Sawmill Branch Trail when about three or four shots came at them from a wooded area, according to an arrest warrant.

Police found Wind lying dead next to the unlighted paved walking trail. Wind's husband was taken to a hospital. The chief deputy did not know his condition. Richardson said the 911 call came in soon after the shooting.

Richardson said police were made aware that hunters were sometimes reported near the walking trail. He said the sheriff's office is working with Summerville Police Chief Doug Wright to step up patrols of the area. He said it's one of the few green spaces in the area that does not allow visitors at night. Generally, Summerville parks are open until 10 p.m., he said.

Hunting licenses are required for everyone age 16 and older in South Carolina, according to S.C. Code of Laws and the S.C. Department of Natural Resources.

People born after June 30, 1979, must complete a hunter education course before obtaining a license, said DNR spokesperson Stephen Fastenau.

"Ultimately, it is a hunter's responsibility to clearly identify (the) target and what lies beyond it, along with adhering to other essential safety rules," Fastenau told The Post and Courier.

Always pointing a firearm in a safe direction is one key principle covered in mandatory hunter education, he said.

For people enjoying recreational trails near hunting areas, Fastenau said wearing an orange safety vest or hat and carrying a flashlight in low-light conditions or at night can aid in visibility.

Richardson said state law prohibits hunting deer within 300 yards of residential structures.

There have been 10 hunting-related deaths in South Carolina between Jan. 1, 2020 and present, according to Fastenau.

This incident is the second fatality tied to hunting in 2024. On Jan. 21, 2024, a 13-year-old boy died while squirrel hunting on private property in Orangeburg County when the boy's friend shot and killed him.

In Nov. 2023, 6-year-old Avery Davis was shot and killed by a stray shotgun pellet in Orangeburg, according to previous reports in The Post and Courier.

The boy had been hunting with his father in an elevated tree stand with another 6-year-old when a teenager on the ground shot too high. The stray buckshot struck Davis in the side of the head. He died at an area hospital.

In April 2023, a turkey hunter was killed in Laurens County, according to previous reports in by The Post and Courier.

On Dec. 26, 2022, a 17-year-old was killed in Kershaw County.

On New Year's Day 2020, a father and daughter, mistaken for deer, were shot and killed by other hunters in Walterboro, according to previous reporting by The Post and Courier.

Black guy just wanted to see what it felt like to kill someone. Don't be bashful guys. Call it like it is.