Charter boat where a Little River, SC mass shooting took place sailed from NC
The boat where a mass shooting took place at Little River marina was sailing from North Carolina, a local businessman said.
Harold Wiegel, the CFO of Myrtle Beach Watersports, said the incident happened on a Hurricane boat that originated its journey in Calabash, North Carolina.
The owner of Hurricane Fleet, which owns the boat, did not respond to a request to comment on Monday.
At about 9:30 p.m. on Sunday, there was a mass shooting at a marina near Watson Avenue where dolphin tour boats, jet skis and other water rentals are based, The Sun News reported. Wiegel said he got a call from his son, who lives nearby, about a shooting late Sunday night.
Wiegel’s son told him that as people were in the process of disembarking the Hurricane boat, someone began shooting. Eleven people were injured, 10 with gunshot wounds and one with another injury, Horry County Police wrote in a social media post on Monday.
It is normal for the Hurricane to dock at the Little River marina as the owners have boats located there, Wiegel said.
“Sometimes (Hurricane Fleet will) move the boats back and forth depending on what they have going on,” Wiegel said. “They’ll move the boats, they’ll move the people to where the space is available.”
It’s unclear what led up to the shooting. As of Monday morning, there had been no arrests nor had police detained suspects, Horry County Police wrote.
Neighbors estimated a minimum of 50 police cars responded to the shooting on Sunday night. Wiegel said the dolphin tour parking lot was full of emergency services. The dock was closed through the night but opened Monday morning.
Wiegel had not noticed an impact on business, with people still coming to rent jet skis and go on dolphin cruises.
Multiple neighbors and Wiegel said the neighborhood around Watson Avenue is quiet.
“Little River is kind of a quiet fishing village,” Wiegel said. “We’ve never had an incident like this. It was quite a surprise that something like this would happen. But maybe it’s just a sign of the times.”
