Travis Blake Carl

Dispute turns violent, ends in car wreck, deputies say

EASLEY — An Easley man is behind bars after police claim he shot his 4-year-old son during a dispute with the child’s mother on Monday.

Travis Blake Carlton, 21, of 222 Lacy Lane, was charged with two counts of attempted murder, criminal domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature, great bodily injury to a child and two counts of possession of a weapon during a violent crime, according to Pickens County Sheriff’s Office chief deputy Creed Hashe.

Deputies initially responded to a call about a multi-vehicle accident on Saluda Dam Road at about 7:43 p.m. on Monday, Hashe said.

Upon arrival, police discovered the driver of one of the vehicles was a woman on the way to the hospital with her 4-year-old son, who had at least one gunshot wound to the chest.

According to Hashe, an investigation led police to believe the shooting stemmed from a verbal dispute between Carlton and the woman at the family’s home, which is about a mile from the scene of the collision.

Hashe said the dispute turned violent, as police believe Carlton fired several rounds from a semi-automatic handgun into the car. The child was seated inside the vehicle as the shots were fired, with at least one striking him in the chest, Hashe said.

Carlton was arrested at the home moments after deputies responded to the wreck.

Investigators recovered a .40-caliber handgun from the home.

Both the boy and his mother were being treated at Greenville Memorial Hospital on Tuesday, where the child was being treated for a gunshot wound and the woman was recovering from injuries suffered in the wreck. Both are expected to survive, Hashe said.

A bond hearing for Carloton was scheduled for late Tuesday, but information was unavailable at press time.