Man who hit roommate with can of corn before shooting him charged with attempted murder
A man was charged with attempted murder in Horry County after police say he hit his roommate with a can of corn then shot him in the face.
Authorities were called about 5 p.m. Saturday to a residence on West Highway 9 in Longs for a physical disturbance, according to an Horry County police report. Officers found a man who had been shot in the face and wounded in his left cheek.
Rashid Uzoma, 22, was arrested and charged with attempted murder. He was booked into jail Saturday evening and was released the following afternoon after posting his $7,500 bail.
According to the police report, Uzoma was supposed to help his roommate move furniture around but began accusing the man and another person of breaking in. The man told police Uzoma walked into the bedroom to get a can of corn and hit him with it, causing a busted lip, the report said.
The two later “locked up” and began to fight, with Uzoma and the roommate each getting “a few punches in” before going outside. He told authorities Uzoma followed him outside, so he picked up an axe to defend himself.
Uzoma grabbed a gun from the trunk of a car, the police report said.
A woman, who also lived with Uzoma and his roommate, told officers Uzoma attacked her inside the residence after she tried to break up the fight between the two men. She fought back in an effort to defend herself and did not want to press charges against Uzoma, according to the police report.
Two witness confirmed the stories of the woman and the roommate.
Police said that Uzoma “had no cause to attack” the victims and was an “aggressor.”
“Due to his use of a firearm, and his ability to cause great bodily harm or even death,” Uzoma was arrested and charged with attempted murder.
Uzoma’s warrant states that he “did attempt to kill the victim with malice aforethought.” He held the victim at gunpoint and made verbal threats to kill him before shooting him in the face in front of witnesses.
