13-year-old shot in leg, arm in Myrtle Beach mass shooting. He’s among the 11 injured
A 13-year-old boy was shot in the arm and leg during the Myrtle Beach mass shooting last month in which a police officer fatally shot another teenager.
This is at least the fourth person that is known to have been shot during the incident.
Zavian Hairston, of Martinsville, Virginia, was shot twice and had a bullet graze his arm, his mother Patricia Washington said Thursday. Doctors were unable to remove the bullet in his arm. It will remain there permanently, she said.
On April 26, at about 11:50 p.m., Jerrius Davis allegedly fired his gun on a crowded section of Ocean Boulevard near 9th Avenue North, Myrtle Beach Police said. A Myrtle Beach Police officer shot and killed the armed 18-year-old from Bennettsville. During the shooting, 11 other people were injured, The Sun News reported.
Zavian Hairston was in Myrtle Beach with his father, Antonio Hairston, for spring break. Hairston told his mother that he was walking along Ocean Boulevard when he heard gunshots. He began to run away and his leg gave out. He got himself into an alley.
“He said two other people ran in, and they were like, ‘You’ve been shot.’ And that’s when he panicked,” Washington said.
It’s unclear who shot Zavian Hairston.
Myrtle Beach Police have not released how many people were shot and who they were shot by.
Hairston is the second teenager to come forward about being shot. Serenity Chavis, 15, of North Carolina, said a police officer shot her in the leg on April 26, The Sun News previously reported.
Another person remains in the hospital from a gunshot wound, according to police. Police have said victims’ ages have ranged from 13 to 43.
Hairston called his father, who had also been grazed by a bullet, and he came to find him. At first, Myrtle Beach Police officers didn’t want to let Antonio Hairston go to his son until they realized the father was also injured, Washington said.
The pair rode in an ambulance to the hospital where they were treated for their injuries. However, doctors did not remove the bullets in Zavian Hairston’s body and only wrapped the gunshot wounds.
“When he followed up with his doctor (in Virginia), she said she didn’t understand why they left (the bullets) in,” Washington said.
In the hospital, Antonio Hairston said he overhead his son asking the nurse if he was going to die.
The pair returned to Virginia the Sunday after the shooting and Zavian Hairston met with his regular doctor to deal with his injures.
Hairston had the bullet in his leg surgically removed on May 13, but the one in his arm had to stay. It would be too difficult to remove the bullet because of where it landed. Unless it causes problems, the projectile will remain in his arm, Washington said.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division spoke to Zavian Hairston at the hospital and will follow-up with him and Antonio Hairston next week, Washington said. SLED is coming to Virginia to pick up the bullet that was taken out of Zavian Hairston’s leg.
SLED victim services did not reach out to the Hairstons or Washington until she called about the bullet being removed, she said.
Since the shooting, Zavian Hairston has been scared to be by himself, Washington said. He used to enjoy playing video games alone, but now he wants people around. Washington is signing him up for counseling.
Washington has already been hit with an $800 bill for the ambulance ride and knows more bills are coming.
Myrtle Beach Police have released little information following the mass shooting, stating they are waiting for SLED to finish its investigation into the “officer-involved shooting” before answering questions, The Sun News reported. The department has not shared the names of the three officers involved, the injuries of the 11 people or video footage from the night of the shooting.
This story was originally published May 15, 2025 at 8:31 PM.
