Full Notification

On March 27, 2024, shortly after 5:20 p.m., deputies responded to a Bluffton area business where they met with a man who reported that he was shot at while traveling on Fording Island Road.

The 22-year-old victim said that he noticed a vehicle following him very closely in afternoon traffic while leaving Hilton Head Island.  He reported a verbal engagement between him and the other driver after crossing the Hilton Head bridges. 

As they continued traveling on Fording Island Road, the driver of the other vehicle, later identified as 19-year-old Joshua Navarrete Castro, shot one time into the passenger side door of the victim’s vehicle before turning around and driving back towards Hilton Head Island.

The victim pulled over and called the Sheriff's Office to report the incident.

Deputies obtained a description of the suspect’s vehicle and shared it with other responding units.

Approximately 20 minutes later, deputies spotted a vehicle matching the description provided by the victim traveling on William Hilton Parkway and conducted a traffic stop.  Castro was identified as the driver.

Interviews with both involved parties, as well as evidence collected from Navarrete’s vehicle, led to the arrest of Joshua Navarrete Castro for charges of attempted murder, possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, discharging a firearm into a motor vehicle, and possession of a stolen firearm.

He is incarcerated at the Beaufort County Detention Center and awaiting a bond hearing.