Will Myrtle Beach shooting impact downtown safety plans? What we know

Following Saturday’s Ocean Boulevard shooting that left one person killed and 11 others injured, the Myrtle Beach Downtown Alliance hasn’t shared a public statement or plans to improve public safety downtown.

Part of the MBDA’s organizational role is, “[shaping] the momentum generated by the MBDA’s activities into compelling narratives that broaden the base of public and political support for the Downtown area and compel individuals and businesses to visit, invest, patronize, support, and reside in the Downtown area,” according to its latest City Council update.

But as of Friday morning, the MBDA has not commented publicly on Saturday’s shooting. The MBDA did announce it would postpone its Downtown Spring Business Summit, which was previously scheduled for Tuesday morning, but didn’t say why it rescheduled the meeting or if the postponement was related to concerns for safety downtown.

The publicly funded, privately led organization dedicated to revitalizing downtown Myrtle Beach identifies keeping the city safe and clean as part of its impact, its website says.

However, in an email to The Sun News, MBDA President Jason Greene didn’t say whether the alliance would take steps to improve public safety in light of the shooting.

“The MBDA does not oversee public safety implementation and plans, nor does it enforce city code,” Greene said, in an email. “The MBDA works closely with the City of Myrtle Beach Police Department to understand their public safety goals and programs … and how we can better support these goals with the Gold Cap Ambassador program and improve our communication to businesses and residents within the Municipal Improvement District (MID).”

The MBDA identifies maintaining the downtown area with ambassadors providing “clean and safe” services as part of its organizational role in its most-recent City Council update. That includes serving as community safety resources. It’s unclear if ambassadors from the Gold Cap program have been out since Saturday’s shooting, or in what capacity.

“With respect to the Downtown Master Plan, the MBDA has been working with the City of Myrtle Beach to develop design guidelines for street and lighting design, to develop wayfinding signage guidelines, and to develop incentives for revitalization and redevelopment for downtown Myrtle Beach,” Greene wrote.

Greene did not respond to further questions about what the MBDA is doing to promote safety downtown and why the summit was rescheduled.

Editor’s note: This story was updated to include Greene’s email to The Sun News.

This story was originally published April 28, 2025 at 1:11 PM.