A U.S. soldier, we’ll call Army Specialist Donald Duncan, is on his way south along I-95 with his wife and mother-in-law. They are in two vehicles with Duncan in the lead car towing a U-haul trailer. Duncan’s wife and her mother are following in a second car.

Duncan’s car develops mechanical trouble so he signals his wife to pull over in the emergency lane. They’re at the McLeod Road exit near Walterboro. Duncan plans to switch tow vehicles because of mechanical trouble.

It’s near midnight as the two women are standing in the emergency lane with Duncan working on the U-Haul emergency light hookup. That’s when a silver sedan pulls up with three men inside.

One man, wearing a cloth over his face, gets out brandishing a large silver-colored pistol which he points at the older woman, calling her "pretty lady."

Duncan, just back from a tour in Iraq, pulls his own pistol and fires several rounds at the gunman. The masked man falls to the ground.

The other two men jump out of the silver sedan and fire a volley of shots at Duncan’s family as the bad guys drag their wounded cohort back to the silver sedan. None of Duncan’s family is hit although there are several bullet holes in both of their cars.

Colleton County Sheriff’s deputies find the bandit’s gun on the roadside. It’s a .50-caliber Desert Eagle pistol which is found to be stolen. Deputies check nearby hospitals and find 19-year-old David J. Jakes of Smoaks at Colleton Regional Hospital where he is being treated for multiple gunshot wounds. The two accomplices apparently dropped him off and fled.

The cops say Army Specialist Duncan (not his real name) holds a Concealed Weapons Permit and acted in self-defense. There are no plans for charges against the soldier. Police are hunting for the two other accomplices.