SC Shooter Franklin Dangerfield Busted for I-95 Rampage

RALEIGH, N.C. – The ATF has nabbed Franklin Joseph Dangerfield, 33, of Ladson, South Carolina, in a dramatic conclusion to a terrifying shooting spree that terrorized I-95 over the weekend.

Dangerfield, accused of possessing an unregistered short-barrel shotgun, faces up to 120 months in federal prison if convicted. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge James E. Gates in Raleigh on today’s date.

On September 5, 2020, Dangerfield allegedly opened fire on multiple vehicles and one person along I-95. Deputies with the Nash County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to the scene, leading a pursuit that spanned four counties and crossed state lines into Virginia before culminating in a crash at Mile Marker 11 in Emporia.

Virginia State Police found Dangerfield in the driver’s seat of his black pickup truck, alongside a sawed-off shotgun with an unregistered barrel. The recovered evidence also included shotgun shells and a hacksaw. Nash County Sheriff’s Office reported one person injured by gunfire and another struck by shattered glass; the gunshot victim was airlifted to Greenville for treatment.

The chase caused damage to a marked vehicle and resulted in non-life-threatening injuries for a sheriff’s office deputy. Assistant U.S. Attorney Aakash Singh is handling the prosecution of the case, with various law enforcement agencies involved in the investigation.

As a reminder, a criminal complaint is an accusation, and Dangerfield is presumed innocent until proven guilty.