Card game dispute leads to shootout in Bluffton, eventual arrest for attempted murder

A disagreement over a card game earlier this month reportedly fueled a shootout that sent one man to the hospital with “life-threatening injuries,” according to Bluffton police. Three weeks later, a suspect was arrested on several felony charges.

Wesley Bush III, 36, of Beaufort, was charged Monday afternoon on outstanding arrest warrants for attempted murder, discharging a firearm into a vehicle and unlawful possession of a handgun.

Officers received a call just after midnight on Sept. 1 from a residence on Maidencane Street, located in the Wellstone at Bluffton community of single-family homes. The caller advised her 43-year-old nephew from Savannah had been shot in the neck and possibly his side and was being rushed to Coastal Carolina Hospital in Hardeeville, according to an incident report from the Bluffton Police Department released Wednesday morning.

At the emergency room, the gunshot victim and his aunt told police the incident began over a game of spades in the front yard, which the group was betting on with a $20 buy-in. The man said he did not pay the fee, which angered Bush, who is the father of his cousin’s child.

Bush, also known as “Q,” began threatening to kill the man as the argument continued, the victim told officers. Both men then left the scene in their own vehicles.

As the victim drove down May River Road toward Savannah, he reportedly pulled over to the side of the street and called his aunt to help himself calm down. That’s when he saw headlights approaching and slowing to a stop behind him, according to the report. Through the rear view mirror, he spotted Bush in the driver’s seat “right before shots began to go off.”

The victim told police he counted 10 shots coming from the vehicle behind him. After “ducking and attempting to dodge the bullets,” he took out his handgun and fired three shots in return. Bush then drove away, according to the incident report.

Bluffton police later examined the victim’s Ram truck parked in front of the emergency room, noting bullet holes to the windshield and driver-side door. Scoping out the scene of the shooting slightly east of Rose Dhu Drive, investigators reportedly found nine shell casings, shards of broken glass and two distinct tire tracks in the roadside grass.

Officers also reviewed doorbell camera footage from a neighbor’s home in Wellstone , which showed the victim knocking on the front door and begging for help after being shot. The neighbor said she opened the door and asked if he was okay, to which he reportedly responded, “No, call the police, I have been shot three times.”

Using the gathered evidence, witness statements and video from town traffic cameras, police obtained arrest warrants for Bush about 12 hours after the shooting. He was arrested by Beaufort County deputies on Monday morning, according to Eydie Moody, a spokesperson for the Bluffton Police Department. In addition to his charges related to the shooting, he was also charged with fleeing police and a misdemeanor count of domestic violence.

In a detention hearing Tuesday, a judge prohibited Bush from contacting the victim and deferred a decision on the man’s bond to circuit court, which will convene again in Beaufort County the week of Oct. 21.

Judicial records show Bush has four prior convictions in Beaufort County dating back to 2017, including second-degree domestic violence, fleeing police, giving false information to police and possession of narcotics.

As of Wednesday morning, Bush remained in custody at the Beaufort County Detention Center.

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