‘We just want the truth’: Here’s what we know, and don’t know about the fatal SC shooting
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Scott Spivey
The North Carolina man was killed in shoot out along a South Carolina rural highway. Nearly two years after, his death is getting a new investigation.
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Questions surrounding a deadly shooting that killed a North Carolina man Sept. 9 in the Longs area continue to mount.
The Solicitor’s Office has asked the state Attorney General’s Office for a review of the case. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division has joined the Horry County Police in its investigation.
No arrests have been made and police have not offered any additional details regarding what happened when Scott Spivey, 33, of Tabor City, was killed in an exchange of gunfire that evening at near SC 9 on Camp Swamp Road.
Weldon Boyd, who operates Buoys on the Boulevard along South Ocean Boulevard in North Myrtle Beach, has been named as an alleged shooter in the fatal incident. There was a second person inside Boyd’s truck that day, but that person’s name has not been released.
Boyd has repeatedly declined to comment and multiple calls and messages left for his attorney have not been returned.
‘We just want the truth,’ family says
The Spivey family have declined to comment pending the investigation.
“We just want the truth, whatever that truth is,” said Jennifer Spivey Foley, Scott’s sister. “We just want the facts.”
Continued tributes and memories about Spivey have been posted on social media.
Foley posted on Facebook Sept. 23, “It’s been two weeks since we’ve been able to hear Scotty Spivey’s voice or see his beautiful blue eyes! Our grief grows greater everyday with his absence.”
Included in the post was a video with a photo collage of Spivey’s life that was part of his funeral Sept. 16.
Spivey has been remembered for his love of hunting and being outdoors and coaching youth sports.
Two shooters, only one named
15th Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson confirmed Sept. 19 that Boyd was one of two people allegedly involved in the shooting. Boyd has not been charged with any crime.
Richardson named Boyd in a letter that he sent to the state Attorney General’s Office Sept. 15 asking for a review of the case after Horry County Police are finished with their investigation. Police have asked South Carolina Law Enforcement Division to join the investigation, Richardson said.
Richardson said because Boyd posted on Facebook a statement thanking police and the Solicitor’s Office for their hard work, he asked for the review so that there wouldn’t be any issues of impropriety. “Rumors have slipped in to fill the gaps as the investigation has carried on the past few days,” the letter said.
In addition to offering his condolences to “family and friends of the person who lost his life,” Boyd also wrote in the Sept. 12 statement, “I would also like to extend my gratitude to all the officers and solicitors who responded to the scene and are conducting the investigation. Your professionalism and empathy towards all the victims did not go unnoticed.”
Was the Solicitor at the shooting scene?
Richardson said Sept. 20 that he was not at the scene of the shooting. However, the Solicitor’s Office does have people on call to help the police with legal issues and when there is a death, especially ones that may result in a trial, that person will often go to a scene.
“We do go out with loss of life case, like murders,” Richardson said. “We can’t go out to all of them.”
Richardson said there are 31 assistant solicitors. He said whoever was on call the night of the shooting would have gone out.
“I just feel that people need to understand in this time of distrust, nobody’s got their finger on this,” Richardson said. “I’m going to be upfront and treat everybody the same. The way we deal with that is we just take ourselves out of it, let somebody who doesn’t know anybody (handle it).”
What police are saying
Mikayla Moskov, Horry County Police spokesperson, has said by text that the investigation is still active and ongoing.
A police report said that Spivey initiated the shooting.
The shooting happened on Camp Swamp Road near S.C. 9 in the Longs area, a police report said. Spivey was shot about 5:50 p.m., according to an email from the Horry County Coroner’s Office Sept. 10. Spivey died on the scene.
The report showed that two other people were involved in the shooting that killed Spivey. It is not clear who fired their weapons and when.
Based on the police report, it appears that Spivey’s vehicle was in front of another vehicle when the shooting occurred at the intersection of Camp Swamp Road and S.C. 9.
A driver of a white Dodge TRX truck told police that “the guy in the black truck jumped out and started shooting at us and I shot back. I think he’s dead.” The driver said he still had his pistol on him. The officer retrieved it out of his holster, the report said. The passenger of the white truck stated his firearm was on the passenger seat, and the officer also retrieved it.
The driver’s side front door in the Black Chevy pickup was open and the driver was hunched over the center console of the truck, with his right arm hanging over the console into the rear passenger area, the report said. He had no movement. A black handgun with the slide locked back was just under his hand, the report said.
The police report did not say what led to the shooting.
Spivey is listed on the report as a “suspect,” while the other two people involved, including the shooter, are listed as “victims.” From the report, it appears that the shooter was the one to contact police.
The report says that there were multiple witnesses.
Editor’s note: This story was updated to include the road where the fatal shooting occurred. (9/25/23 at 11:02 A.M.)
This story was originally published September 25, 2023 at 9:35 AM.
