Witnesses help Hardeeville police find gunman in minutes after 1 person shot at business
A suspected gunman is in custody after shots were fired Friday morning at KBRS, Inc., a kitchen and bath manufacturer on Speedway Blvd. in Hardeeville. One employee had been shot but was believed to be in stable condition at a Savannah hospital, according to the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office.
The shooter, whose name has not yet been released, was found “walking away” along Highway 17 and was promptly detained “without any incident,” said Jasper County Sheriff Donald L. Hipp. The sheriff described the suspect as an “African-American male” in his mid-to-late 20s.
Hipp commended local agencies’ quick response to the “active shooter situation” — dispatch received the call at 8:22 a.m., the first officer arrived at 8:29 and the suspect was in custody by 8:36, he said.
“We’re talking about a period of 14 minutes,” Hipp told reporters at a press conference Friday morning. About 25 officers from the Sheriff’s Office and Hardeeville’s police force responded in total.
Investigators believe the gunshot victim was employed at KBRS and the suspect “has some affiliation” with the company. Spokespeople would not answer questions about the shooter’s weapon or the number of shots fired.
Hardeeville Chief of Police Sam Woodward said that at the start of their response, he and his officers checked the back of the building, finding employees “pointing down the road” toward the armed suspect. “That’s how we knew who we were looking for at the time,” he said.
Asked about the concerning increase in active shooter incidents, Hipp said the Sheriff’s Office sends deputies across the county to proactively “assess” different buildings — such as schools and government offices — and prepare tactics for potential mass shooting events. Police had not pre-assessed the KBRS building prior to Friday’s incident, he said.
Friday morning’s shooting occurred in the jurisdiction of the Jasper County Sheriff’s Office. The county’s EMS team and Hardeeville Fire Department also responded to the scene.
