Suites at Station Exchange Director Rich DeLong said Thursday that the Wednesday shooting that injured one of the facility's workers brought out the best in the facility's employees.
"We thank God, the hospital employees and surgeons for caring and keeping watch over our associate that was injured," DeLong said. "We also commend the RHPD and other surrounding departments for their efforts to apprehend the perpetrators - and we are very thankful and proud of our entire staff that responded in an appropriate and professional manner to keep both our staff members and residents safe. We have an amazing group of caring and loving people. We are a family and it definitely showed on Wednesday."
In the meantime, Richmond Hill police have released the initial incident report from Wednesday’s shooting at Station Exchange that sent one man to Memorial with a gunshot wound to the abdomen.
The victim’s name and that of two witnesses were withheld, but the report by Richmond Hill Police Department Officer Tiffany Christian sheds some additional light on the shooting, which has resulted in the arrests of men in South Carolina.
Christian got to Station Exchange around 2:38 p.m., Wednesday, where she found the victim sitting in a “chair in the dry storage room with a gunshot wound in his abdomen,” the report said.
She and Lieutenant Jason Sakelarios began performing first aid on the victim, reportedly a 19-year-old Station Exchange Employee, while Sergeant Timothy Saia and Senior Patrol Officer Michael Akers began looking for suspects.
Once Bryan County EMS arrived, Christian began keeping a crime scene log. Detectives roped off the area and took photographs, and Akers took over the crime scene log while Christian began looking for witnesses.
She found two, whose full names are not in the report, and provided both with forms to fill out.
Both witnesses apparently told Christian that the victim saw either three or four men trying to steal the victim’s pickup, so he ran out into the parking lot and “began yelling at them to get away from his truck,” the report said.
The suspects got into a gray 2013 Dodge Charger with an Alabamalicense plate and drove away, but just before leaving, a shot was fired which hit the victim in the abdomen, the report said.
LifeStar was called and flew the victim to Memorial inSavannah. Detective Doug Sahlberg had the victim’s pickup towed to RHPD for processing and the crime scene log and one of the witnesses’ statements were turned over to Detective Keith Welch.
The scene was then turned over to detectives, Christian’s report said.
Later Wednesday afternoon, Richmond Hill Police Chief Billy Reynolds said four men were confronted after trying to break into the victim’s vehicle and was shot. The men fled in the Charger, but a BOLO was put out and Savannah Chatham Metro Police spotted the car.
That led to a chase that eventually ended with the arrest of the men at an apartment complex in Hardeeville, South Carolina.
The condition of the victim has still not been released. Station Exchange is located on Highway 144 in Richmond Hill just across the street from J.F. Gregory Park. It includes the senior living facility, a church and a number of businesses.