Three Myrtle Beach, SC police officers are on leave after shooting. How many fired guns?

In Saturday night’s downtown shooting, at least one police officer fired a gun, the Myrtle Beach Police Department says. But questions remain about the shots fired that night.

“During the altercation, one individual began firing a weapon,” a MBPD Facebook post from Sunday says. “At that time, based on the immediate threat, one of our officers responded by discharging their firearm. The officer involved was not injured.”

The MBPD hasn’t released body-worn camera footage or security video from its Real Time Crime Center of the incident.

It’s unclear if other officers discharged their weapons, how many rounds were fired or if people other than Jerrius Davis were struck by police bullets.

“Three officer [sic] are currently on paid administrative leave per our policy in connection to this incident,” MBPD public information officer Randolph Angotti said in an email to media Monday.

So, does department policy require all officers at the scene be placed on leave, or only officers who discharge their firearms? It’s not entirely clear.

Although the MBPD’s officer-involved shooting protocols state that the public information team should “respond to all requests for information from media outlets and be the sole source of information to any and all media requests,” The Sun News has been unable to reach Angotti for comment. A request for an interview with Chief Amy Prock this week also went unanswered.

In cases of officer-involved shootings, the MBPD’s Administrative Regulations and Operating Procedures differentiate “involved officers,” police officers who intentionally fire at a human being, from “involved others,” anyone who is directly involved with the shooting. Involved others may include officers who responded as back-up, witnessed the incident, rendered aid or were on duty.

Officer-involved shooting protocols state that both involved officers and involved others should be placed on administrative duty “as necessary,” but don’t address paid administrative leave.

MBPD procedures do state that “any officer involved in a deadly force incident will be placed on Administrative Leave directly upon his or her preliminary report of the incident.” However, it’s unclear how the department defines involvement in this context.

This story was originally published May 2, 2025 at 5:30 AM.