SULLIVAN’S ISLAND, S.C. — The salty breeze off the Atlantic carried a lighter note today on Sullivan’s Island, a tight-knit beach town just outside Charleston. After a tense manhunt that locked down this small community, residents are finally unclenching their fists. The suspect in a hit-and-run that left two kids and an adult injured was hauled into custody late yesterday, ending a nerve-racking ordeal that had folks peeking out from behind curtains.
It all kicked off around midday on May 1, when a car barreled into the parking lot of Sunrise Presbyterian Church, a cozy spot where parents were picking up their kids from a homeschool co-op. The vehicle slammed into three people—a parent and two children—before the driver ditched the sedan and bolted on foot, clutching a knife. One child and the adult were rushed to the hospital, though both were stable and later released. The second kid, scraped up but okay, was treated on-site and handed back to family. The brazen getaway sparked a full-scale hunt, with cops, FBI agents, and even U.S. Marshals swarming the island’s quiet streets.
For hours, Sullivan’s Island felt like a scene from a gritty cop show. Cops went door-to-door, sweeping houses while drones buzzed overhead. Checkpoints choked off the Ben Sawyer Causeway and Breach Inlet, bottling up the island. Schools locked down, and Sullivan’s Island Elementary sent kids home early—but only after parents showed up to claim them. No buses, no walking. Just a grim email to guardians: come get your kids, now. Residents were told to hunker down, lock their doors, and keep an eye out for a heavyset, balding guy in a red shirt and dark shorts, last seen hightailing it down Jasper Boulevard.
By late afternoon, the suspect had a name: Justin Collin Adams, 36, from Greenville. Cops warned he was armed and dangerous, maybe still lurking on the island. The search dragged on, fraying nerves as the sun dipped low. Then, just before 6 p.m., a break: a police sergeant, riding in a Charleston County Aviation Unit chopper, spotted Adams crouching on a boat docked behind a house in the 3000 block of Jasper Boulevard, right across from the church he’d fled. Officers swooped in, nabbing him without a fight. The island exhaled.
Adams now sits in the Sheriff Al Cannon Detention Center, facing three counts of attempted murder and first-degree assault and battery. He’s being grilled by detectives to figure out why he did it—whether it was a freak accident or something darker. Cops aren’t saying yet, and the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office is taking lead on the investigation. The church, a low-slung building tucked off Jasper, became an unlikely crime scene, its parking lot cordoned off as investigators pieced together the chaos.
The operation to catch Adams was a masterclass in teamwork, with a laundry list of agencies pitching in: South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, Department of Natural Resources, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, State Port Authority, and more. Sullivan’s Island Mayor Patrick O’Neil, speaking to reporters after the arrest, didn’t mince words. “This was great teamwork,” he said, tipping his hat to the feds, state cops, and local badges who turned the island upside down to find their man.
By this morning, Jasper Boulevard was open again, the checkpoints gone. Kids are back to biking along the sandy streets, and parents are swapping stories over coffee at the island’s diners. The injuries, thankfully, weren’t as bad as feared. One child and the adult walked out of the hospital yesterday, the other kid never needed to go. Adams, meanwhile, is cooling his heels in a cell, his next stop a courtroom. The investigation rolls on, with detectives digging into what set off the chain of events that turned a sunny Thursday into a day Sullivan’s Island won’t soon forget.