Friends remember suspected Myrtle Beach police shooter as funny and loving, but complicated

Friends of the man suspected of killing a Myrtle Beach police officer say they were shocked to learn that he had fired at officers.

John Derek Aycoth loved guns, but was a supporter of law enforcement officers, said Zachary, who grew up with Aycoth and described himself as Aycoth’s childhood best friend. He asked that only his first name be used in this story to prevent public backlash for remembering a friend suspected of killing a police officer. According to Zachary, Aycoth’s involvement in Saturday’s shooting didn’t add up.

“I don’t know what got into him. He was not anti-cop or anything. He used to say, ‘Back the blue,’” said Zachary, referring to a popular phrase used to show support for police officers, who often wear navy-blue uniforms.

Aycoth is accused of shooting and killing Myrtle Beach police officer Jacob Hancher on Saturday, Oct. 3 in an incident that began as a domestic dispute. A second officer was hurt in the shooting. Aycoth himself died from gunshot wounds later that night. Investigators have released few details of the events before, during and after the shooting. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division is leading the investigation.

Little is known about Aycoth, aside from what friends told The Sun News and what is available in public records and the parts of his Facebook page that are public. Attempts to reach Aycoth’s familiy were unsuccessful. Aycoth’s father died in 2018, according to an obituary that lists him and his mother as survivors. A visit to the last listed address for his mother, Michelle Aycoth, was unsuccessful. Other attempts to reach Aycoth’s immediate relatives, including his sister and grandfather, were also unsuccessful. His grandmother died in March, according to an obituary.

Growing up in Indian Trail, North Carolina, Zachary said the two lived next door to each other and first became friends as young children, around four years-old. The two were always outside playing, he remembered, riding bikes, searching a nearby creek for crawfish, playing with toy Army soldiers. The two lived near a big hill, and would drag a broken power wheels car to the top and race down.

“We were little jokesters,” he said. “We were always cutting up.”

When he was young, Aycoth took interest in BB guns and other toy guns, Zachary said, and later became a more avid fan of firearms, posing for pictures with an AK-47.

Aycoth’s parents divorced when he was still a child, Zachary said, and, sometime in middle school, he moved to Myrtle Beach with his mother.

Destiny Huntley said the two attended Sun Valley Middle School together in Indian Trail before Aycoth moved away. The two were friends, she said, and Aycoth was known as a “class clown.”

“He always tried to make sure everyone around him was happy or laughing,” Huntley said. “He never wanted to see anyone down no matter what he was going through.”

That’s how Zachary remembered Aycoth, too, even as he got older.

“He had a big heart, he was just a big ‘ole goofball,” he said “We kept each other laughing. No matter what he was facing, he was able to keep his head up and keep on trucking.”

When he and his mother first moved to Myrtle Beach, Zachary said Aycoth found it funny that he had never been to a beach, but now lived a few blocks from the shore, in an apartment on Pridgen Road. Aycoth’s first time seeing the beach was on the bus ride to school, Zachary remembered Aycoth telling him at one point.

Lisa Bourcier, a spokesperson for Horry County Schools, confirmed that Aycoth attended school in the district, though wouldn’t say which school. However, Bourcier noted, district records show he only attended school for less than a year.

Though sparse, court and police records offer a glimpse of Aycoth’s life. In January 2018, Aycoth filed a police report after someone broke into an apartment he shared with his mother and stole his XBox, a controller and his copy of Call of Duty. His XBox and controller were later returned, the police report says.

Later that year when Hurricane Florence made landfall, Aycoth and his mother fled their apartment, police records show, and his mother was arrested shortly after for leaving their two small dogs behind. She served a short jail sentence for animal cruelty, court records show. A year later, in September 2019, they were evicted from the apartment. It’s not clear where the Aycoth’s moved to after the eviction. Aycoth lived with his girlfriend on Yaupon Drive, according to Kyle Clark, the building’s landlord.

Aycoth, for his part, mostly stayed out of trouble. Shortly after the eviction, he was cited for not wearing a helmet while driving his motorcycle, though no other police or court records exist for him.

Aycoth was also a fan of heavy metal, including the band Slipknot, as well as hip-hop, particularly from the 1990s, according to Zachary and what’s publicly viewable on his Facebook page. In one photo he posted to Facebook, Aycoth can be seen holding an AK-47 and wearing a clown mask, similar to those worn by members of Slipknot, and the band’s insignia is written on the picture.

Though they weren’t able to see each other as often after he moved, Zachary said they continued to play video games online — including Red Dead Redemption, Call of Duty and games in the Forza series — together and would check-in on each other from time to time. Lately, Zachary remembered Aycoth telling him, life had gotten tough, but was starting to turn around. Zachary said he believed Aycoth was pursuing his high school equivalence. Aycoth had also talked about joining the military, he said.

Given that, he said, it’s hard to believe that Aycoth would shoot at a police officer. Zachary added that he sends his “dearest and deepest condolences to Officer Hancher’s friends and family” as he himself has friends and family in law enforcement.

“Not in a million years would I think that something like that would happen,” he said.

This story was originally published October 8, 2020 at 3:14 PM.