The Journal. - Camp Swamp Road Ep. 1: Mess Around, Find Out

Episode Date: September 15, 2025

A man in rural South Carolina calls 911 about a reckless driver. A reckless driver with a gun. Minutes later, a man is killed on Camp Swamp Road. Police say this was a clear-cut case of self defense. WSJ reporter Valerie Bauerlein reconstructs that night using 911 calls, police dash-camera and body-camera recordings. Read the Reporting: Police Say He Killed in Self-Defense. His Phone Tells Another Story. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A word of warning. This series contains descriptions of violence and strong language, including unbleeped curse words. Please be advised. 9-1-1-K-2-M-R-N-C. Hey, I've got a guy pointing a gun at me driving. We're armed as well. He keeps throwing the gun in our faces. I don't like he's about to shoot us.

If he keeps this up, I'm going to shoot him. Where are you at? I'm on Highway 9. He's trying to run from me now. It was around 5.50 p.m. on a Saturday, September 9th, 2023. A man calls 911 about a reckless driver, a reckless driver with a gun. This dude shoots at me. We're going to put him down. I mean, this dude's insane.

As he heads down the highway, the man describes what he sees. He tells the dispatcher that he says. he's taking pictures out the window. I've got pictures of him aiming the gun at us, everything. He's about to put the gun out again. Sir, this guy aims that gun at me. We're going to have to shoot him. The man making this call is Weldon Boyd.

He's 32 years old and owns a popular restaurant nearby. That day, Boyd was driving with his friend Bradley Williams. The two were heading up to Boyce Farm to drop off a fan and some lawn furniture. Boyd wanted his mother to be able to sit outside in the late summer heat. Did it start with the roadway or he just pulled up next to you? I didn't do it. I was talking to my friend. We're trailer and couched. And this dude just, my buddy's like, what the fuck? And he's got a gun aimed at us next to us. Boyd seems convinced that this man is going to hurt somebody.

He and Williams have been following the guy with the gun for several miles. I need a, I need a truth for fast. Y'all, he may shoot at the cop, too. man tell the cops we're in a white ram pickup truck and we are armed I'm military so it ain't us don't don't shoot us but this dude's fucking nuts the guy with the gun suddenly turns off the highway boyd says he's going to keep after him all right so he's turning on to camp swap road What road? Camp Swamp Road. I've been to Camp Swamp Road many times over the course of the last year.

It's a two-lane country road surrounded by farmland. There wouldn't be any reason for me to be there, except for what happened next. He's stopping. He's stopping. Hey, we're about to have a fucking shootout, dude. This dude's got a gun. He's got a fucking gun. Do you have an address where he stopped at? We're at, hey, hey, I can't put it in gear. Are you guys shooting? Hello? Hello?

Hello. In those few seconds, dozens of bullets were fired on Camp Swamp Road, and a man was killed. This shooting took place in South Carolina, one of 28 states with stand-your-ground laws. These laws allow someone to kill a person if they are in fear for their life. And stand-your-ground would be applied in this case, that a lot. essentially meant that it wasn't fully investigated, like a murder, because this killing wasn't considered a crime. In standard ground cases, the roles of victim and perpetrator can be flipped. The killer is considered the victim, making the dead person, the perpetrator.

In many cases, the only one who can account for what happened is the person who survives. In America, there are hundreds of standard ground killings every year, and most of them fly under the They almost never make it to trial. But this case on Camp Swamp Road is different. It could have been quickly dealt with as a standard ground killing case closed. But it wasn't. Because of a few very important factors, one man's decision to record all of his phone calls,

a police cover-up, and one's sister's determination to take on the investigation herself, learning everything she could about her brother's death. I'm Valerie Warline, and this is Camp Swamp Road, a series from the journal. Coming up, episode one, mess around, find out. Designed to create meaningful moments of connection at work, Nespresso Professional delivers exceptional coffee every time. With variety at your fingertips, you are sure to satisfy every taste.

Discover the right solution for your workplace today. Unforgettable coffee, meaningful connections. Nespresso Professional. Visit nispresso.com slash pro to learn more. No, what was that just emergency? Uh, yeah, something doesn't look right over on Camp Swamp Road off of Highway 9, Morris. Soon after the shooting, other 911 calls come in. I just pulled off their own camp, their own swamp.

Oh my God, I'm so short. We're at the corner of Highway 9 and Camp Swamp, the gunshots, um, road rage. Um, white pickup trucks, two white men. I am at, um, the corner of Camp Twomp Road, and somebody just unloaded, shot through his windshield, and stopped this guy. Okay, good, give it the best known location so far. The best known location so far, I've gotten a couple of things in here saying that both vehicles are on Camp Swamp Road. What you're about to hear is based on police records, 9-1-1 calls, and hours of body cam and dash-cam recordings. The first officer to arrive is Carrie Higgs.

Camp Swamp and 9, and I'm here. Copy all unit 103 of this town go to the alternate. All unit sent three go to alternate. Camp Swamp Road is in Ory County, South Carolina. The late summer air is heavy when Higgs rolls up. Higgs sees two trucks. One is black. The driver's door is flung open. The other truck is white with a trailer attached.

Next to the white truck are two white men. Both have beards. Both are wearing ball caps. The bigger guy is Bradley Williams. The smaller guy is Weldon Boyd. Boyd rushes towards the officer, waving his arms. What's going on? I have to shoot him.

He... All right, give me a second. They saw everything. He held a gun to us on the interstate. He ran us off the road. We were calling. I was taking pictures of his license plate. When I turned in here, he got out of that truck, had his pistol.

He racked it, aimed, and shocked. Me and Bradley started shooting back. I mean, I can't. He was shooting at us. Why would he do that? I have no idea. Welledon Boyd is firmly telling the officer that the man in the black truck shot at him

and his friend Bradley Williams. So I'm a veteran. I didn't, I did not do this. I did not, well, I shot him, but he shot us first. He shot at you? He shot 100%. I was trying to back up and get away, and then he started discharging the fire on.

To this day, it's not clear who shot first. Officer Higgs now walks towards the black truck. It's about 25 yards further down Camp Swamp Road. Checking on the other vehicle, black Chevy, North Carolina plate, Romeo Charlie 1-5-38. Inside the truck, a white man is slumped over the center console. Higgs reaches in and prods the man's back. Sir. The driver doesn't move.

10-4 is 1 is definitely 10-7. 10-7 is police code for out-of-state. service. Officer Higgs is telling his colleagues that the man in the black truck is dead. Higgs walks over to Boyd. He's pacing back and forth. Good. Calm down. Listen, listen. I understand. It's self-defense, man. I understand. I just want you to sit down, calm down, take a breathing. It's not, there's nothing to be sorry about. Just sit down and take a breathing, sir. All right. It's now been about 20 minutes. It's now been about 20 minutes. since the shooting, and Weldon Boyd is very clear. He and Bradley Williams shot in self-defense.

The second officer to arrive is Sergeant Damon Viscovy. He's just coming on duty, and he's driving pretty fast to Camp Swamp Road. You dumbass! Viscovy is an experienced officer who's been on the force for over 20 years. When he arrives at the crime scene, it's still pretty chaotic. Witnesses are milling around, and cars are driving through. Get your car out of the way now. It's around 6.30 p.m. paramedics are now on the scene. They climb into the black truck, noting the gunshot wounds on the driver's body.

Just watch what you're touching. Blood covers the front seat and soaks a pair of brown cowboy boots stuffed behind it. One of the paramedics tells Sergeant Viscovy the name of the dead. dead man. Scott Spivey, the boy, Lane. Scott Spivey? Yeah. Table Seed.

Mr. Tava? Scott Spive? Wow. Wow. I know him. Scott Spivey. The name hangs in the air as Viscovy tries to look him up on his phone. A few minutes later, Viscovy tells another officer that he knows the dead man.

It seems to be bothering him. Well, you know what's weird? I know that guy that's did. Okay. This is so out of care of him. He's a church-going guy. I think he had to be on certain. That don't sound like him at all.

Spivey had to have been on something, says Viscovy. That don't sound like him at all. I was able to reconstruct the last hours of Scott Spivey's life using phone records and security camera footage. Spivey had been in North Myrtle Beach, a vacation town about 15 miles away from Camp Swamp Road. Before he was shot and killed, Spivey spent his Saturday afternoon at a bar called Boardwalk Billies. It's tucked away from the high-rise condos and many golf courses along the beach, a favorite spot with locals. Spivey chatted with other folks at the bar and watched college football.

Scooting, scoring. Touchdown, Clemson. After about five hours at the bar, Spivey settled his tab. It came to $89, which covered a cheeseburger, a spicy tuna roll, seven beers, and eight shots of fireball cinnamon whiskey. It's unclear how many of these drinks he consumed himself, but security footage shows him buying shots for other customers. At 5.40 p.m., Spivey texted a woman he'd been seeing. What are you doing tonight? At 541, he texted a different woman. By all accounts, when Spivey left Boardwalk Billy's, he wasn't fit to drive.

There is a guy that is waving a gun in front of me trying to shoot at my car and the other was beside us. Weldon Boyd wasn't the first person to call 911 about Scott Spivey. A few minutes earlier, a young woman on her way home from a waitressing job spoke with a dispatcher. He's all over the road, and I have his license plate number. Okay. Okay, he's waving the gun right now.

He's waving it out the window at everybody. I don't know if he's under the influence of anything because he's all over the road. The woman says that she saw Spivey's black truck breaks suddenly in front of Weldon Boyd's white truck, forcing Boyd into the median. After Boyd got back on the highway, she followed both trucks onto Camp Swamp Road.

He is pulled over on the side of the road. actually I am not on oh my god oh my god I don't know what's going on he's jumping out of the truck I'm turning the same way there is a truck behind him and oh my god what happened ma'am what happened did he fire the gun ma'am oh my god ma'am I've got to move I've got to move okay just keep just keep Go in, ma'am. I'm sorry. So what's your name? Blaze Ward.

It's B-L-A-I-Z. Ward, W-A-R-D. About a half hour after the shooting, Blaze Ward was interviewed by a police officer. They're standing at the intersection of Highway 9 and Camp Swamp Road. To the officer, Ward seems like a key witness. Wait, I'm going to back you up so I get this right, because you literally saw everything from start to finish. Yes.

So what truck pulled over first? The black truck. He stopped in front of the white truck. I'm talking like in the road, not off the road, then in front of him. Ward has just witnessed something shocking, and there are inconsistencies and her statements to police. For instance, Ward says that's Bavie shot at her car, but when she in the office, or look for any evidence that happened, they can't find it. Ward also says that after turning on to Camp Swamp Road,

she saw Scott Spivey shooting into Weldon Boyd's white truck. And how many times do you think he shot? Oh, God. It had to be more than seven. Shot. I don't want to be exaggerated or nothing like that, so I ain't going to stay too much. Should I have an end of the windshield? Yes, basically front of the truck.

But the reason why I say windshield is because I've seen That glass popping. From my reporting, I've determined that what Blaze Ward is saying here is not true. Spivey did fire bullets on Camp Swamp Road, but none of them went through Boyd's windshield. The glass was popping because bullets were being fired out from inside Boyd's truck. The officer relays Ward's statements to his colleagues. So the girl in the white knee time, saw everything start to finish the wood behind the whole thing all the way from, like. Colonial charters

All the way up to She was stopped right behind them right here While people in the black truck Got out and shot into the wayfurt Out here Right here He started He started throwing the gun all the way back there

He pointed it hurt All the way back by Boyden Williams say they shot in self-defense And Ward's statement appears to support that The statements from other witnesses will appear to as well. So y'all saw what happened on number nine. Yeah, yeah.

It was way it started. This witness is a blonde woman wearing a T-shirt that reads, just a girl who loves donkeys. She also saw Scott Spivey driving erratically in his black truck. That black truck comes flying by us. Like Blaze Ward, this witness says Spivey ran Boyd's white truck off the road. Black truck slammed on brakes. This one couldn't do nothing but go into it.

the grass. You could see the dirt to climb from where he had. Basically, according to witnesses, whatever happened, the black truck started it. Another witness was driving past the trucks when the shooting started. The guy in the black truck, locked up his brake, like stop quick, jumped out with a pistol. I saw it, when he got out of the truck, he had his pistol like this, screaming, hollering. He says that Scott Spivey got out of his black truck with a gun in his hand. And then as I got past him, I just heard shots. And I freaking took off like this way, like a bad out of hell called. turned around. But yet, the guy in the black jumped out with a pistol drawn. Together, these witness statements will help the police reach a quick decision about who was

in the right and who was in the wrong on Camp Swamp Road. South Carolina's stand-your-ground law is different from many other states. Elsewhere, a person might be required to retreat if faced with a life-threatening situation, but not in this state. In South Carolina, a person has no duty to retreat. if they are faced with this set of circumstances. Number one, you're in fear for your life. Number two, you're not the aggressor. And number three, you are in a place where you have a right to be.

For the police at the scene, Weldon Boyd is meeting all these conditions. He was scared of an erratic driver with a gun. He didn't provoke him, and he was in his truck, a place where he had the right to be. All of this influences how the police handled the case from the beginning. Camp Swamp Road is not a murder scene. About 45 minutes after the shooting, Sergeant Damon Viscovy tells another cop why Boyd and Williams haven't been detained.

But I don't know how any of us. It sounds like it's clear-cutts self-defense. Okay. Everybody that's here, witness was. He said that guy was trying to run him off the road way back at Bell & Bell and Bell. He even pointed the gun at the girl in the white car. Okay.

And shot out. And shot out her? Yeah. Okay. He's, I don't know. And I know the guy. The first officer at the scene, Carrie Higgs, sums it up another way. These two boys are, one's the shot.

It's that old mess around, find out thing. It's that old mess around, find out thing. The most senior officer on the scene walks over to Weldon Boyd, who's standing next to his trailer. We're good. You're good. You're good. Don't worry about it.

Things happen, you know? I don't understand this one. Detective come up here. We'll let your attorney come down here once he gets there. There's probably... He's down there. There's probably skid marks from where he ran in that ditch down there. One of the witnesses, the woman in the donkey shirt,

also has some reassuring words. Come down. Ain't no much said you did anything wrong. Okay. Just feel like you did, don't you know? Yeah, well, I mean, nobody wants to go through that. That's right. But you got to understand you're here, we'll get through all this, okay?

The police have identified the driver of the white truck as the victim and the driver of the black truck as the perpetrator. The victim is about to head to the station. He'll give a statement and go home. The perpetrator, his family hasn't been told he's dead yet. How they find out is next. on a lot of crimes, many of them involving guns. ORI County, where this shooting happened,

is a very unique place. For starters, it's pronounced O'R-R-E, but spelled H-O-R-R-Y, and it proudly calls itself the Independent Republic of O'R-R-E. O'I-County is over 1,200 square miles, bigger than the entire state of Rhode Island, and it's a place that loves guns.

Shootings here are not uncommon. All this creates some real challenges for law enforcement. The Ory County Police Department covers a vast area with a lot of crime. The shooting on Camp Swamp Road happened at an inconvenient time for the police. It was around 6 p.m. on a Saturday, right at the end of a long shift for many Ory County officers. In the body cam recordings from the crime scene, you can hear some officers complaining. I say, we haven't eaten since breakfasts. I know.

And this body needs nourishment. The weariness at the crime scene carries over to the police station, and it's etched on the face of Alan Jones, the detective overseeing the shooting investigation. It's around 9.45 p.m., and Jones is in a break room, preparing to take a statement from the driver of the white truck, Weldon Boyd. Detective Jones rubs his eyes and cracks open a can of Mountain Dew. Weldon Boyd sits across from him, arms folded, legs wide.

He isn't under arrest. Boyd is here to give a voluntary statement to help police with the investigation. And helping the police is what Boyd says he was doing all along, starting with a 911 call. I was talking the dispatcher and I'm trying to just, someone needs to follow this guy until a cop can get behind me. And I even told it to, I said he might shoot at the cops. that cops.

Yeah, I got it. I mean, I can... Detective Jones nods along. I just wanted to make sure that there was eyes on that car until an office was showed up. I didn't realize that. So somebody can get there.

I'm with you. I'm tracking. Jones only has a few questions for Boyd. He wants to understand the events that led to the shooting, and he asked Boyd why he turned in after Spivey on Camp Swamp Road. I was trying to tell the dispatcher where he was going.

And we had just basically jumped my truck. At some point, I need to try to stop make sure nothing flew out. I didn't know that he was part right there. When I turned on, he was waiting. Boyd is telling Jones that he turned down Camp Swamp Road to check on his trailer. This isn't what he told the 911 dispatcher.

In that call, Boyd said he was following Spivey. I mean, I wasn't looking for trouble. I was telling a fucking couch. I don't know what happened, but the dude tried to shoot us. I mean, he aimed right at me and started shooting. Boyd gets up out of his chair

and begins recreating Spivey's last moments. He acts out how Spivey got out of his black truck. Boyd swings his right arm in front of him, pointing his fingers like he's holding a gun. Detective Jones watches quietly, his eyes following Boyd's hand as it moves through the air. At that point, I look right down the barrel, and it started going off.

And that's when I just break pedal, I bring a weapon, and I engage. There are only three people who know who shot first. Scott Spivey, Bradley Williams, and Weldon Boyd. While one witness says that he saw Spivey get out of his truck with a gun, he didn't see the exact moment that the gunfire began. But both Boyd and Williams say that Spivey shot first. Boyd describes to Detective Jones how he responded.

We hear... So I... Because you don't know if someone has beat on you. He just shot. He just shot at us. I mean, I don't know if he's still trying to kill me. I don't know. I can't see him.

So I just put, I don't know, two or three more into where I thought he was in the vehicle, and then it went silent. Through my reporting, I found that Boyd and Williams fired at least 29 bullets at Spivey. According to Boyd, it was his bullet that killed him. Detective Jones appears to be satisfied that this was a killing done in self-defense. a random altercation between two strangers. Did you ever see this guy? I don't know who he is,

and I think I overheard somebody say his name is Scott Spivey. I looked him up on Facebook, and we're not even Facebook friends. Back at Camp Swamp Road, police are clearing the crime scene. Spivey's black truck is being towed away. His body is still inside. It's dark now, over three hours since the shooting. No one from the police department has contacted Scott Spivey's family. At 922, a red car pulls up to the crime scene.

One of the remaining officers walks up to a blonde woman sitting on the passenger side. Hello. Hey, I'm Corporal Raven. You've had some questions? Yes, sir. Lindsay Bell, is Scott Spivey's son. first cousin. She's heard there's been a shooting and that's Bobby was involved. Is he dead? Because I know someone he's dead. I don't know. I just know he's been transported from here. There's no one else left here. The only thing we're doing now is clearing up about to open up the scene. But has he been transported which way? I have no idea.

Bell pulls out her phone and calls her family. Hello. Hey, I'm sitting here talking to two officers, Jenny. What's Aunt Deborah's number? Jenny is Jennifer Spivey Foley, Scott Spivey's older sister. I heard something happen on Camp Swamp, and I was like, what do you mean something happened on Camp Swamp? Jennifer had been getting her two toddlers ready for bed when she got an unexpected phone call. It was her brother's best friend, Christian.

My babies were in the bathtub, and I get them out of the bathtub. They're still wet. And I look at my phone and I was like, Christian. I was like, why is Christian calling me? That's Scott's best friend, not my best friend. It's not a clock at night. Yeah. And it just, I just, it just flew over me.

And I was like, what, something's wrong. Christian said something had happened to Scott. Within minutes, Jennifer and our husband, Grayson Foley, ran the car. The whole way there, all I did nothing but prayed. And I screamed. And Grayson's like, calm down, calm down. And I'm like, I can't. I don't know what's going on.

He won't answer his phone. And, I mean, you don't know what's going on. At 925, Jennifer arrives at Camp Swamp Road. The rest of her family. This is sister. Okay. Jennifer sees a white truck being towed away. Its windshield shot out.

Blue lights are flashing everywhere. When she asks an officer what's going on, he says he can't tell her. I look at my cousin. I'm saying, either Scott's been murdered or he's murdered him to something. body. What's going on? And no one will tell us? And you said, is he at the hospital? Is he at the morgue? Why won't somebody tell me what's going on? And they're like, we can't tell you anything. We're not, we're not, we don't have any information. We're just here to traffic control. Hey, young lady, I'm corporate abing, okay? I'm going to tell you the same thing

we told them. The detectives are not here. Anyone involved's not here. Jennifer's shaken. The cops won't tell her anything. Her brother isn't there, and it's clear something bad happened. I remember that feeling, and it kind of makes my stomach flutter.

I mean, I couldn't, I could not catch my breath. By now, it's 9.28 p.m. The officers agree to be okay to go ahead and tell the family that Scott Spivey is dead. One officer swigs from a can of energy drink. He says he'll be the one to do it.

I don't have a problem telling him. You're the lieutenant. I don't matter of me. Other family members have arrived, including Scott Spivey's parents. At 939, they gather under a bright street light. Jennifer stands outside her parents' car. Her mother is in the backseat with the windows down. The officer begins explaining what happened.

It stemmed from a road right jensen. And there was a shooting involved. Scott was involved. And unfortunately, he did pass it. Okay. We have your contact information and everything to give to the corner. Right now, nothing has been released. But I think you should know what is going on.

Yes. And... You know me? Tell me everything. It's a little hard to hear on the police. body cam, but Scott Spivey's mother begs the officer to tell her everything. Ma'am, I can't get into a lot of it because it's still an ongoing investigation, as what I can briefly tell you was apparently Scott was a road raging with somebody else, and he tried shooting at them, and they fired back to him.

Oh, my God. Jennifer puts her hands over her face. She bends over, rocking back and forth. There's not a lot I can answer because it is an ongoing investigation, but if you have any questions you think I might be able to answer, I'd gladly try. Spivey's mother asked if her son died instantly. Did he die instantly? I wasn't here, but it appears. There was just a heaviness in the air.

But it was like a, it was a blank heaviness. There's nothing, it was a void. You could already feel the void that was there. I'm sorry for your love. All right, y'all be careful. Which way will y'all? Y'all be going back this way? Okay, give me just a second.

I'll help y'all get out on the road, okay? Okay. It's going to be kind of hard to see with these blue lights. Jennifer spent the night at her parents' house. Her mind was racing. Did you sleep that night? No, I lighted in my bed and I had my phone. I don't know if I slept at all that night.

Jennifer was full of questions. All she knew was that someone had killed her brother. She pulled up the website for the Ory County Jail. If anyone had been arrested for her brother's death, this is where she'd find them. And I just kept prison, refresh, refresh. Refresh. And by 6 o'clock that next morning, when nobody popped up for manslaughter, for murder, for discharging a weapon, and for nothing, I knew something was wrong. Nobody popped up because the men who killed her brother had not been charged with a crime.

About eight hours after the shooting, at 2.10 a.m., Detective Allen Jones emailed a report to his colleagues. It said that the incident appeared to be the result of road rage. He added, quote, Mr. Spivey stopped on Camp Swamp Road, exited his vehicle, and fired. Detective Jones closed out his report by saying, quote, all indications are that the actions of Mr. Williams and Mr. Boyd are justified.

Ory County Police had already begun to wind down their investigation, but Jennifer's was just beginning. You start putting these pieces, together like something's just not something's not right coming up on camp swamp road he's a good hardworking guy who found himself being shot at and he shot back but you would expect more compassion more reverence it to me it almost bordered on desecration. Oh, I was on his ass, and his truck

couldn't outrun my truck. And he knew it. So, yeah, he was terrified. I need new evidence that changes the facts of this case, and right now we have not received any. I was working, I was into shadows last night. I weren't there, but I was in shadows. Everything we thought,

everything that we questioned, we had positive affirmation in those costs. It was like pouring gasoline on it and setting it on fire. I mean, they were explosive. The things you hear are explosive. If it's not stand your ground, what is it? It's, I mean, I think it was just murder.

Camp Swamp Road is part of the journal, which is a co-production of Spotify and the Wall Street Journal. I'm Valerie Borlein. Our senior producer is Rachel Humphreys. Our producer is Heather Rogers. Editing by Colin McNulty. Fact-checking by Nicole Fasilka. Music, sound design, and mixing by Nathan Singapok. Our theme music is by So Wiley, remixed for this series by Nathan Singhock. Special thanks to Catherine Brewer, Miguel Bastillo, Sam Enriquez, Pia Gacari, Carlos Garcia, Matt Kwong, Jennifer Levitz, Jessica Mendoza, Bruce Orwell, Villana Patterson, Sarah Platt,

and Cam Pollock. Thanks for listening. Episode 2 will be released next Sunday. Thank you.