11 injured amid shooting at busy Myrtle Beach tourist area

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) – Eleven people were injured during a shooting in Myrtle Beach on Saturday night after a gunman opened fire along North Ocean Boulevard.

Responding police fatally shot one person, identified by the local coroner’s office as 18-year-old Jerrius Davis, of Bennettsville, South Carolina.

Myrtle Beach Mayor Brenda Bethune told Nexstar’s WBTW that the officer involved in Saturday’s deadly shooting acted appropriately.

Horry County Deputy Coroner Tamara Willard on Sunday backed the mayor’s sentiments.

“Our officer saw what happened, and when he saw that an altercation was taking place and a gun was being shot, the officer responded very quickly and, in my opinion, saved lives,” Willard said. “Last night could have been so much worse.”

The shooting took place just before midnight in the 900 block of North Ocean Boulevard, after officers became aware of a disturbance involving multiple people. During the altercation, somebody fired a weapon, leading an officer to fire back with his own.

“The individual shot during officer response has passed away as a result of their injuries,” police had announced on Facebook.

The incident, which happened in the middle of the city’s famed entertainment district, comes just as peak tourism season is beginning.

Sebastian McMillan, a longtime visitor from Washington, D.C., said the violent situation won’t keep him away from Myrtle Beach.

“There’s trouble all over the world. We can’t control that. So we just have to come and not let fear spoil our vacation,” McMillan said. “We still come here to enjoy the sights, enjoy the views, so I don’t feel threatened at all. I’ve been coming here for years. I’ll still come.”

Councilman Gregg Smith told WBTW he hopes others agree.

“It’s very unfortunate that people feel they need to solve their problems with guns, but it’s an isolated incident and not indicative of the reality that most Myrtle Beach visitors encounter,” he said.

Last month, Police Chief Amy Prock said major crimes, including homicides, burglaries and aggravated assaults, have dropped nearly in half since 2015, in part thanks to 248 new cameras, expanded neighborhood teams and new technology such as acoustic gunshot detection.

“This path is laid, and our foot is on the gas, I will tell you that,” Prock said. “I look at my team, and I look at our community. We work together. We may not always get along, and we may not always agree, but I will tell you this: We work hard, and we work together, and we find a way to make a difference.”

Mayor Bethune herself was on Ocean Boulevard on Saturday night around 11 p.m. She told WBTW she frequently visits the area because she feels it to be safe.

“This was an isolated incident. We had a huge crowd on the boulevard late last night, and we can’t always control what people are going to do, but we also can’t just shut ourselves in and do nothing,” she said. “This is a great place to visit. It’s not an unsafe place at all. And I’m not making light of what happened in any way.”

But Nikki Petracco and her daughter Aurora, who are visiting the city, say incidents like Saturday’s are upsetting and could give some pause when deciding on vacation plans.

“Unfortunately, shootings are an everyday occurrence. They shouldn’t be, but they are, but it definitely makes you think twice before visiting a tourist area,” Petracco said.

The city’s police department said on Facebook that it would launch an internal review, and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) is also investigating, which is standard procedure in any officer-involved shooting.

Bethune said once SLED finishes its report, city leaders will release it to the public. That should take about three weeks, she said.

“Unfortunately, with social media, there’s going to be a lot of comments being said that are not true, and (people) trying to make more out of this, and we want to get the facts out so that people know what has happened,” Bethune said.