Deputies Investigate Fatal Piney Grove Road Shooting

Richland County deputies are asking for the public's help after a man with multiple gunshot wounds was found lying in the middle of Piney Grove Road Saturday night.

A K-9 unit was in the area of Piney Grove and Broad River roads around 11:40 p.m. Saturday when they heard multiple gunshots being fired, said Richland County Sheriff's Department spokesman Curtis Wilson.

Deputies found a man with multiple gunshot wounds in the 1300 block of Piney Grove Road.

The victim, who was a 23-year-old black male, was taken to Palmetto Health Richland where he was pronounced dead, Wilson said.

Richland County Coroner Gary Watts on Sunday identified the man as Cedrick L. Blackwell of Columbia.

Watts said the man was near the Country Town apartments on Piney Grove Road when he was shot.

The victim was pronounced dead at 12:04 a.m. Sunday in the emergency room, according to the coroner's office.

An autopsy conducted Sunday morning showed the man died from complications of multiple gunshot wounds to the upper body.

Deputies continue to investigate the shooting.

Anyone with information about the incident should call Crimestoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC.