Shootout on Redbank Road sends bullets flying

Two SUVs raced down Red Bank Road toward the Naval Weapons Station early Tuesday, gunfire blazing as occupants reached out windows shooting at each other.

They sped past a crew working on the road and sent at least one bullet through a gas station awning, according to the incident report from the Berkeley County Sheriff’s Office.

A burgundy GMC Yukon riddled with several bullet holes ended up in the median strip near Henry Brown Boulevard. No injuries were reported.

Investigators found a bullet hole in the awning of the Circle K station near Harbour Lake Road, according the report.

Investigators also found 11 spent 9 mm cartridges in the road.

A Department of Transportation road crew working near the gas station witnessed the unsettling scenario and told deputies two vehicles were going down the road side by side while the occupants appeared to be shooting at each other. They said a large man was leaning out the passenger window of a white sport utility vehicle firing into the air.

Another witness told deputies the shooting started around Harbour Lake Road.

Investigators believe shots were fired from both vehicles, Sheriff’s Office spokesman Dan Moon said. The Yukon driver was at the scene, but no charges were filed Tuesday.

It was not yet clear which party fired first and if either party could claim firing back in self-defense, he said.

Reach Dave Munday at 937-5553 or twitter.com/dmunday.