Was downtown shooting the worst in Myrtle Beach history? How others compare
On April 26, 2025, an 18-year-old was killed and 11 others were injured in the largest mass shooting in Myrtle Beach in more than a decade, according to records.
But was it the worst mass shooting incident in city history?
There’s no universally accepted definition of a mass shooting. The Gun Violence Archive, a nonprofit online database that documents gun-related violence, qualifies an incident as a mass shooting if four or more people are killed or injured.
Under those guidelines, the April incident would be considered the seventh mass shooting in Myrtle Beach since 2014. Although two other mass shootings were deadlier–one in May 2014 and another in October 2020–the most recent mass shooting injured the most people.
Recent Myrtle Beach shootings
Of the seven mass shootings, all but one took place in downtown Myrtle Beach.
- Three people were killed and one person was injured on May 24, 2014, in a shooting at 104 N. Ocean Blvd. at the Bermuda Sands Resort.
- In the only mass shooting outside the official downtown perimeter, two people were killed and three others were injured on October 12, 2020, at what was then-Allen’s Food Basket.
- In downtown Myrtle Beach at 12th Avenue North and Withers Alley, one person was killed and three others were injured in a shooting on April 24, 2022.
- Seven people were injured, including a gunman, on June 18, 2017, in a shooting downtown at the Wayfarer Motel at 311 N. Ocean Blvd. The incident was one of three shootings in one night.
- On Nov. 5, 2016, at what was then Pure Ultra Nightclub at 803 Main St., five people were injured in a shooting downtown.
- At the intersection of 12th Avenue North and North Ocean Boulevard in downtown Myrtle Beach, four people were injured in a shooting on May 24, 2020.
The April 26 shooting incident is unique because it’s the only mass shooting where a police officer killed someone, qualifying it as a fatal “officer-involved” shooting.
Myrtle Beach police allege that Jerrius Davis, 18, was fatally shot by an officer after opening fire into a crowd downtown.
However, the city hasn’t released body-worn camera video or surveillance footage of the incident. And even after police released two incident reports and Mayor Brenda Bethune and Police Chief Amy Prock held a joint news conference, questions about the shooting remain.