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A 6-year-old boy was injured during a hunting incident in Orangeburg County early Friday, according to the S.C. Department of Natural Resources.

SCDNR is investigating the accidental shooting.

The incident took place around 8:30 a.m. in a wooded area on Whisperwood Road, which is in an unincorporated area near Cameron.

The Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office and Orangeburg County EMS also responded to the scene.

Information about the child’s condition wasn’t known as of mid-afternoon on Friday.

SCDNR said it will provide additional details as they become available.

Contact the writer:mbrown@timesanddemocrat.comor 803-533-5545. Follow on Twitter: @MRBrownTandD.

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Dr. Antoinette Williams Rutherford, a pulmonary physician, has been defined by the positive impact she has made on others’ lives.

“As you venture on in life, at different points in your life, you will have this definition of success change. Success is equally about the impact you make, the lives that you touch and the difference that you make in this world,” Rutherford said.

Rutherford served as the featured speaker at S.C. State's fall commencement exercises held in the Smith-Hammond-Middleton Memorial Center on Friday. She’s medical director of adult sleep medicine at Prisma Health Midlands, as well as interim division chief of pulmonary critical care and sleep medicine at Prisma Health.

The 1993 graduate of Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School graduated with honors from S.C. State in 1997. She was the first S.C. State student to graduate from the University of South Carolina's School of Medicine.

She said being accepted into medical school had been a pinnacle of success for her, but her understanding of true success eventually changed.

“As life evolved, my perception of success has shifted. It wasn't solely about personal achievement and accomplishments, but evolved from personal milestones to the impact that I could make. True success is not measured solely by personal achievements, but, again, by the lives you touch and the communities you serve,” she said.

Rutherford continued, “Today, my success is about helping others achieve their aspirations. It is about dedicating myself to the people of South Carolina, improving their health care and ensuring a better tomorrow for others.”

Rutherford said true success will not necessarily come overnight, but will be more of a journey.

“In this digital era of Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, where the lure of success is dazzled in our eyes and where sometimes success could be done quickly, that is not always the case. ... Just like a flower, it takes time to grow,” she said.

“Graduating today is one success, but there are definitely more to come. Remember to define your success, but do not forget that success is fluid. It evolves. It adapts and morphs into something more profound. ... Keep defining your success and expect that once you've achieved one success, you will have others,” she said.

“I want you to remember to celebrate the small victories because these small victories will lead to larger triumphs,” Rutherford said.

She said the graduates that “Bulldog tenacity” can take them anywhere and urged them to leave their own indelible mark on the world.

“I'm known to get the job done. Leave your mark. Make yourself known in your own way. ... Success often favors those who persist in the face of adversity,” Rutherford said.

She also urged the graduates to set goals, take advantage of opportunities and stand ready to adapt to technological and other changes the world will be bring.

“Remain open to pivoting. ... Keep an open mind and seize opportunities as they appear,” she said.

Rutherford said she stayed in Hodge Hall on the S.C. State campus, where she poured herself into the pursuit of learning. It’s a process that never ends.

The physician said she had her own personal chant: “If can do it, yes I can. If I can't do it, no one can.” She said it helped her develop her authenticity and life's purpose.

“Your uniqueness is your strength,” Rutherford said, admonishing the graduates to embrace failure and use it as stepping stone to greater things.

“I know that you can do it. The world awaits your Bulldog tenacity and brilliance,” she said.

S.C. State President Alexander Conyers told the graduates that they’re ready for the challenges ahead.

“The world awaits you with many complex challenges, but I'm confident that you're more than ready to rise to the occasion. In fact, you were built for these challenges,” Conyers said.

Daily Covid-19 admissions in the Orangeburg County area

About the data

Data is from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hospitalization data is a daily average of Covid-19 patients in hospital service areas that intersect with Orangeburg County, an area which may be larger than Orangeburg County itself.

The number of daily hospital admissions shows how many patients were admitted to hospitals for Covid and is one of the most reliably reported indicators of Covid’s impact on a community.

Total population

Ages 65 and up

Total population

Ages 65 and up

An updated vaccine is recommended for adults and most children. Statewide, 7% of vaccinations did not specify a home county.

Nearby hospitals

Share of I.C.U. beds occupied

About this data Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Notes: The hospitals map shows the average I.C.U. occupancy at nearby hospitals in the most recent week with data reported. The data is self-reported to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services by individual hospitals. It excludes counts from hospitals operated by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and the Indian Health Service. Numbers for hospitalized patients are based on inpatient beds and include I.C.U. beds. Hospitalized Covid-19 patients include both confirmed and suspected Covid-19 patients. The C.D.C. stopped reporting data on cases in May 2023.

How trends have changed in Orangeburg County

About this data Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Notes: Weekly county death data prior to Jan. 2021 was not reported by the C.D.C. and is sourced from reporting by The New York Times. Hospitalization data is a weekly average of Covid-19 patients in hospital service areas that intersect with Orangeburg County. Hospitalization numbers early in the pandemic are undercounts due to incomplete reporting by hospitals to the federal government.

Historical trends in Orangeburg County

The data in these charts has been archived and they are no longer being updated.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The data in these charts has been archived and they are no longer being updated. Weekly county case data prior to Jan. 2021 was not reported by the C.D.C. and is sourced from reporting by The New York Times. The C.D.C. stopped reporting data on cases in May 2023. Test positivity data is based only on test results reported to the federal government and is a seven-day average.

“I am deeply disturbed by the deplorable conditions in which we found the victims involved in these heinous crimes against humanity,” said Orangeburg Department of Public Safety Chief Charles Austin, Sr. “I commend Sergeant Deloris Edmunds and the team that worked with her to investigate and uncover the atrocities that were committed against some of our vulnerable citizens whose families entrusted the personal care of their loved ones to the suspects and their trust was betrayed.”

ORANGEBURG COUNTY, S.C. (WACH) — Investigators with the Orangeburg Department of Public Safety (ODPS) say five vulnerable adults ranging in age from 52 to 99 were in imminent danger when they were found in heavily soiled undergarments in the back of a Broughton Street barbershop.

During the December 27 investigation, officials say they were told that a man inside a closet room area ate himself to death and passed away on Christmas Eve, according to the incident report.

ODPS officials say bond was set a $30,000 for 40-year-old Shaneima Montgomery of Saint George on January 5 in connection to the crimes.

The Lemon Drive woman was arrested on January 4 and is charged with five counts of neglect and financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult.

Montgomery was allegedly receiving varying payment amounts for the victims' care at the Broughton Street and a location on Lovell Street.

According to an incident report, Montgomery is the owner of Blue Ink Sign Inc (487 Broughton Street) and is registered with the South Carolina Secretary of State as a nonprofit.

The use of the business is listed as administrative management and general management consulting services.

ODPS investigators were conducting a follow up from December 19 when they say the victims were found.

At the time of the initial visit, investigators say they saw a customer get a haircut and a Business and Professional License to Jerry's Professional Barber (967 Russell St., 29115) on the wall.

According to the incident report the victims were identified as a 99-year-old Black female, a 52-year-old Black female, an 80-year-old white male, 63-year-old white male, 73-year-old white male.

The door of one of the victims was locked from the outside preventing them to leave the room and a box of used needles were found on the floor of another victim.

The incident reports also states:

These are just some of the reasons this building is deemed unsafe for the vulnerable adults; however, there are many more, the incident report states.

All the victims were taken to MUSC Health Orangeburg for treatment.

The Orangeburg Department of Public Safety is still investigating the case.

HOLLY HILL, S.C. (WIS) - As the family of an Orangeburg County woman who went missing four months ago seeks answers, the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office is releasing new information about the case.

Melissa Aguilar of Holly Hill was reported missing by an ex-boyfriend on Aug. 18, an Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office report states.

Deputies said Friday in a statement that it put out a public call for leads after an “unconfirmed report of a possible sighting.”

Investigators believe she left a home on Fourwind Road, which is in an unincorporated area of Orangeburg County, after an argument with her ex.

Aguilar’s youngest daughter, Shanna Brown, said the last four months have been excruciatingly painful. Brown said she used to speak with her mother every day and the fear of the unknown has caused her “anger, heartache, and worry.”

“It’s been really hard trying to juggle a job and put on a smile and act like nothing’s wrong when there’s so much wrong,” she said.

Brown described her last conversation with her mother on Aug. 17, the night before she was reported missing. She said Aguilar sounded upbeat and happy during that call. She was excited about her oldest daughter’s upcoming wedding in September, and the pair discussed Brown’s future wedding plans as well, Brown said.

Immediately following her disappearance, the sheriff’s office shared the information with the local newspaper, but did not put out a public release through its official channels, nor send the information to other news outlets, WIS-TV reported.

The Sheriff’s Office provided written answers to some questions Friday, but an investigator familiar with the case was not made available for an on-camera interview.

The agency did not provide any specifics about who reported the “unconfirmed report of a possible sighting” or when or where the sighting happened.

Family members, however, say they fear Aguilar is gone.

“She would’ve come back by now, or at least called somebody,” Brown said.

Sarah Shipman, Aguilar’s sister, agrees and said she does not believe that her sibling would vanish without her belongings, and miss important family events.

There was a law enforcement presence at Aguilar’s last-known location, the place she was staying with her ex-boyfriend on Fourwind Road, throughout the morning on Friday.

The sheriff’s office said they could not provide details out of concern that doing so could “jeopardize the case.”

“I wish that they would’ve done a lot more than what they did in the beginning,” Brown said.

Brown implored the community to come forward with information, regardless of how inconsequential it may seem.

“If they see anything, they think they see anything, if they hear anything, that we just want to know, we just want to get an idea, a lead, anything so we could bring her home, alive or not,” she said.

The sheriff’s office declined to answer questions about whether there is a suspect or person of interest in the case, saying they “cannot comment on particulars of an investigation.”

The public is asked to contact the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office with tips, leads or information, at 803-534-3550.

Copyright 2023 WIS. All rights reserved.