Man shot; police seek suspects

A man was shot in the leg on Charleston's West Side on Monday night, leaving a blocks-long trail of bloody footprints to Ashley Avenue, where he apparently collapsed and was found by police and medical personnel who were responding to a call about the shooting.

Police had not established a motive for the shooting and had no suspects in custody in the hour following the 9:40 p.m. incident.

But initial police radio reports said they were looking for three or four men dressed in black clothing.

The shooting victim, whom police did not identify, was found on the sidewalk in the 300 block of Ashley Avenue.

He was taken to Medical University Hospital with what police described as non-life-threatening injuries.

"I came out and they were putting him on the stretcher," said Vera Bryant, a neighborhood resident who lives in a house on Ashley Avenue.

"It's not the sort of thing that happens in this neighborhood," she said. "It's very quiet around here."

Police department spokesman Charles Francis said the location of the shooting had not been immediately determined.

At the scene, bloody footprints could be seen leading from Ashley Avenue up Fishburne Street to Larnes Street, which police had blocked off with several cruisers.

Reach David Slade at 937-5552 or dslade@postandcourier.com.