Police investigate downtown shooting; officer crashed on way to scene

A man was shot in the mouth near Charleston’s Crosstown Expressway shortly after midnight today, and an officer on the way to the scene crashed into another car, authorities said.

Twenty-year-old Shabazz Rainey of North Charleston was taken to surgery Medical University Hospital for treatment of the bullet wound, Charleston police said. No further update was on his condition later in the day from the hospital or police.

Two people riding in a car that was hit by an officer’s cruiser were expected to recover, as was the officer.

“He’s doing fine,” said the department’s public information officer Charles Francis, who declined to elaborate on the police officer’s injuries.

An incident report gives this account of the shooting:

Police responded to Ashley Avenue and Line Street at 12:35 a.m. to find Shabazz sitting on the ground holding a white tank top to his mouth. Blood with broken teeth in it pooled underneath him.

A witness told police that the shot came from a moving vehicle, but could not provide a description. A crime-scene technician, however, doubted that scenario.

The report says that officers recovered a single .45-caliber shell casing about 3 feet from the front door of Ave. Quick Stop at the same intersection. A gunfire detection system also recorded a shot in the same general area. Police had trouble finding cooperative witnesses.

The crash occurred shortly after the shooting. Officer Michael Burke crossed into the opposite lanes at Line and Coming streets and hit a 2008 Kia sport utility vehicle with two people inside, Highway Patrol Cpl. Paul Brouthers said.

The Patrol identified the SUV driver as 20-year-old Annalise Rahman of North Charleston. Medical University Hospital reported that Rahman was treated and released Friday. No specific information was available on her passenger, though Brouthers said everybody involved in the crash was expected to recover fully.

Burke contributed to the collision by going into the opposite lanes of traffic, Brouthers said, though troopers did not intend to cite him. The officer had his lights on without the siren at the time.

Francis said the department did not plan to take any disciplinary action against Burke for the accident.

Check Charleston.net later today for more details.