Man charged with murder in Waffle House shooting

Investigators believe they have answered a key question after a flurry of gunfire at a local Waffle House left one man dead and another wounded last month.

It didn’t take long to figure out who wounded Quinton Allen, 28, of Johns Island at the Waffle House at 3565 Savannah Highway about 4 a.m. July 15, according to the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office.

Allen told deputies Deonte Steven Brown, 19, of Ravenel pulled a gun out of his waistband and shot him after Allen didn’t give Brown a cigarette. Brown turned himself in the next day.

But it was not clear who shot Dantaye Reed, 19, of Ravenel, who was found fatally wounded in the parking lot.

There could have been more than one shooter involved, Charleston County sheriff’s Maj. Jim Brady said at the time.

Now investigators believe both men were shot by one man. They say Brown shot Allen in the restaurant and Reed on his way out of the parking lot. They came to that conclusion after Allen told them he saw only one gun and ballistic tests showed both bullets came from the same gun, Brady said.

Brown, already in jail on the attempted murder charge, was charged with murder Thursday.

He’s being held in the Cannon Detention Center. A bond hearing is set for 2 p.m. today.