By Delayna Earley
The Island News
A father and son were arrested on Monday, Sept. 22, after police were called to the parking area in front of Beaufort’s Walmart store on Robert Smalls Parkway after receiving a shots fired report around 7:40 p.m.
Four gunshots were reported, and police have attributed the shots to Beaufort resident John Michael Findlay, 52, who had been targeting a vehicle.
No injuries were reported, but the vehicle showed evidence of being struck by gunfire.
The incident allegedly resulted from a previous incident that took place outside of the jurisdiction of the Beaufort police.
Findlay was arrested and charged with discharging firearms within Beaufort city limits and two accounts of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature.
Assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature is a felony is punishable by up to 20 years in prison if found guilty.
Findlay’s 20-year-old son also allegedly punched out the driver-side window of the same vehicle and assaulted the driver, resulting in his arrest and charges of misdemeanor assault and battery and malicious injury to property, which is also a misdemeanor.
Findlay was released from jail on Tuesday afternoon with surety bonds totaling $51,087.50 – $25,000 for each of the assault and battery charges and a bond of $1,087.50 for discharging a firearm within the city limits.
His son was released on Tuesday morning on a personal recognizance bond of $3,212.50 – $1087.50 for the assault and battery charge and $2125 for the malicious injury to property charge.
Delayna Earley, who joined The Island News in 2022, formerly worked as a photojournalist for The Island Packet/The Beaufort Gazette, as well as newspapers in Indiana and Virginia. She can be reached at delayna.theislandnews@gmail.com.
