Horry cops asked property owner to stop shooting guns. Now SC is trying to take his land.
A Horry County farm has a reputation for shooting guns toward a housing subdivision, South Carolina lawyers say as they seek a court order to close the property for at least a year.
The state has filed a request in Horry County court against George R. Ferrell III and asked a judge for permission to take his farm at 10480 Hwy 707. The farm is located outside of Myrtle Beach and near a subdivision called Harmony at St. James.
The farm has been “habitually used to shoot firearms towards a residential development,” lawyers wrote in court documents. They noted that homes have been shot several times.
Neither Ferrell nor his attorney could be immediately reached for comment.
Christine Griffith says her home has been hit by stray shotgun pellets. She said she’s scared to let her two young children play in the backyard, which backs up against Ferell’s land bordered by a row of trees.
“I picked this development strictly for the school system, and we thought we were doing the right thing and never once thought to ask about bullets,” Griffith told The Sun News.
Horry County police have been at the farm to ask Ferrell to stop the shooting, but it did not stop, according to the filing.
South Carolina claims the farm’s inaction is “offensive to public decency, morals, peace and health” as they seek to have it declared a nuisance. In videos provided to The Sun News, gunshots are audible in the neighborhood. One was filmed as children returned home from school, Griffith said.
The state asked a judge to close the property for one year. Horry County police could also take control of the property to make sure the nuisance ends, according to court records.
Horry County’s gun ordinance prohibits the “reckless discharge” of firearms and regulates the hours it is legal to shoot guns.
Griffith said she has heard gunshots throughout the night.
Ferrell was arrested last month on second-degree harassment charges, according to J. Reuben Long Detention Center records. He was charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature in 2010, but the case was dropped, according to online court records.
Lawyers have tried to have other Horry County properties declared a nuisance to close them down. Typically, the disputed properties are commercial businesses, such as Myrtle Beach hotels.
Jimmy Richardson, solicitor for the 15th Judicial Circuit which covers Horry County, said he was not concerned about having private property declared a nuisance as it meets the state’s definition.
This story was originally published August 11, 2020 at 10:12 AM.
