Early in the afternoon on May 1, a group of Sullivan’s Island schoolchildren and teachers suffered non-fatal injures following a crashed stolen car that ended with a police manhunt for a fugitive on the run. Officers from Isle of Palms and Sullivan’s Island police departments, alongside the help of other local, state and federal personnel, arrested suspect Justin Collin Adams of Greenville County.
Adams was charged with three counts of attempted murder and two counts of assault and battery in the first degree. Adams’ apprehension came approximately five hours after police were alerted to an incident on the property of Sunrise Presbyterian Church near Breach Inlet on Sullivan’s Island.
“This was a search for an armed and dangerous man, who intentionally tried to run over elementary- to-middle-school-aged children on a playground,” said IOPPD Sgt. Matt Storen, special services and public information officer. “He is alleged to have assaulted his mother with a knife, taken her car, then used that car to intentionally run over the children.”
Witnesses called police around 12:48 p.m. to report the attack, which left one adult and two children injured. After Adams crashed his mother’s car into a building on the church property, he then proceeded to flee on foot.
“IOPPD assisted with the initial response, since the incident was located so close to our jurisdiction — and due to this incident being so involved, we responded immediately,” Storen said. “IOPPD assisted with search operations, media management — Chief Kevin Cornett was part of the unified command system and provided guidance and support at the command post.”
Six SIPD officers assisted in the hunt and the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office Helicopter Crew was dispatched to make a sweep of the area.
“Although the search was initiated immediately by SIPD and IOPPD officers, the concerted effort using mutual aid assets to conduct a grid search started at approximately 3:40 p.m.,” said SIPD Police Chief Glenn Meadows. “Once sufficient assets had assembled, officers were organized into five search teams to do house-to-house searches.”
Using the helicopter’s advanced camera system, the air team spotted something suspicious in the 3200 block, across from the church property.
“They noticed that a boat cover had a cut, or was open,” Storen said. “They zoomed in and saw a part of the suspect’s red shirt, then when they went to the thermal function of the camera, they confirmed that a body was on the boat.”
Police apprehended the suspect at approximately 5:53 p.m., according to Meadows.
As for a motive for attempting to harm the schoolchildren, Storen said the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office is investigating this incident “at the request of SIPD.”
Both Storen and Meadows added that the operation resulted successfully because of straightforward, combined police work. “The cooperation and collaboration of all 22 federal, state and local agencies played a tremendous role in the success of the operation,” Meadows said. “The helicopter from the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office proved to be a valuable tool locating the suspect.”
The incident marks a continued disturbing trend of violent assault on the islands. In the past two years, IOPPD has responded to or investigated 82 cases of assault – 39 in 2024 and another 43 in 2023. While the year 2025 is on pace for similar numbers, the crime trend across Charleston County is dropping.
“So far, we’ve never had a manhunt end up as a cold case,” Storen said. “And for our part in this, it was just an agency assist, which we do regularly for all kinds of cases. Our partnerships at all levels are priceless in ensuring us to do our jobs and keep everybody safe.”
By L. C. Leach III
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