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

The Journal.

The Wall Street Journal

Daily News, Business News, News

4.2 • 5.3K Ratings

🗓️ 15 September 2025

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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

Transcript

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0:00.0	A word of warning.
0:02.1	This series contains descriptions of violence and strong language, including unbelieped curse words.
0:07.8	Please be advised.
0:15.0	Nine on one, okay, through emergency.
0:19.6	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.
0:43.0	A man calls 911 about a reckless driver, a reckless driver with a gun.
0:49.2	This dude shoots at me, we're going to put him down. I mean, this dude's insane.
0:54.6	As he heads down the highway, the man describes what he sees.
0:58.6	He tells the dispatcher that he's taking pictures out the window.
1:02.2	I've got pictures of him aiming the gun at us, everything.
1:06.0	He's about to put the gun out again.
1:09.1	Sir, this guy aims that gun at me.
1:10.7	We're going to have to shoot him.
1:14.1	The man making this call is Weldon Boyd.
1:17.1	He's 32 years old and owns a popular restaurant nearby.
1:21.7	That day, Boyd was driving with his friend Bradley Williams.
1:25.8	The two were heading up to Boyd's farm to drop off a fan and some lawn furniture.
1:30.3	Boyd wanted his mother to be able to sit outside in the late summer heat.
1:34.3	Did it start with a rotary? He just pulled up next to you.
1:37.3	I didn't do it. I was talking to my friend. We're trailering couches.
1:42.3	And this dude just, my buddy's like, what the fuck?
1:45.0	And he's got a gun aimed at us next to us.
	...

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