2 critically injured in Sumter shooting at Washington Street hotel; initial information reports a firearm was ‘mishandled’

Sumter Police Department is continuing to investigate the shooting at a Washington Street hotel that left two critically injured.

Officers responded to the Sumter Palmetto Inn after 10:45 a.m. Aug. 23, where they found a 16-year-old and an 18-year-old, both of Sumter, shot inside a room. According to Tonyia McGirt, public information officer for the police department, a firearm was mishandled and discharged inside the room.

Both were transported to an area hospital.

The investigation remains “fluid and ongoing,” McGirt said.