The Journal. - Introducing: Camp Swamp Road

Episode Date: September 10, 2025

On September 9, 2023, in rural South Carolina, a man was killed in a shootout on Camp Swamp Road. Police said that it was a clear case of self defense, but secret recordings tell a different story. In a new true crime podcast series from The Journal, WSJ reporter Valerie Bauerlein unspools a shooting that might have gone unnoticed, if not for a grieving sister’s quest to find the truth. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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. A man is calling 911 about a reckless driver. A reckless driver with a gun. All right, so he's turning on to Camp Swap Road. What road? Camp Swap Road.

Seconds later, a man is shot dead. No, what was that just emergency? Uh, yeah, something doesn't look right over on Camp Swamp Road. I'm Valerie Borline, and I've covered the sound for the Wall Street Journal for more than 20 years. This shooting was deemed a justifiable homicide under South Carolina's standard ground law. The police determined that the shooters acted in self-defense. When I turned in here, he got out of that truck, had his pistol, he racked it, aimed, and shocked. Most self-defense shootings in the United States fly under the radar, but not this one, because of a few key factors, a police cover up.

I was into shadows last night. I weren't there, but I was in shadows. One man's decision to record all of his phone calls. Oh, I was on his ass, and his truck couldn't outrun my truck, and he knew it. So, yeah, he was terrified. And one sister's determination to learn everything she could about her brother's death. I'm literally standing in front of them. holding out everything that is wrong, and they're telling me to sit down. From the Journal, this is Camp Swamp Road. Find Camp Swamp Road in the journal feed on Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Listen to episode one, available September 15.