9 shots, 12 victims, 1 ‘mystery bullet.’ Who shot who in Myrtle Beach gunfire?
Months after a mass shooting in Myrtle Beach left 11 people injured and a shooter dead, questions remain about who was shot by the suspect, and who was shot by the officer involved.
Gunshots pierced the air the night of April 26, 2025, on the popular Ocean Boulevard tourist strip in downtown Myrtle Beach. Dash cam footage of the event showed Jerrius Davis, 18, of Bennettsville, fire his pistol into a crowd four times, and Myrtle Beach Police Officer Brandon O’Rourke returning fire five times, killing Davis.
In September, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division released a 40-page report recounting that night. But it sheds little light on which person’s bullets struck the victims caught in the crossfire. The victims’ ages ranged from 13 to 42, The Sun News previously reported.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division led the investigation into the officer-involved shooting, and the Myrtle Beach Police Department conducted an internal review following the shooting. O’Rourke was cleared in the shooting.
Myrtle Beach Police spokesperson Randolph Angotti said that information about who shot who is included in the SLED investigative report, but the report does not appear to explicitly state that information.
The SLED report, released on Sept. 10, 2025, details victim accounts of that night, as well as the number of gunshots and who stood in the line of fire as O’Rourke and Davis were shooting. However, some of the victims are listed as being in the line of fire for both shooters, making it unclear who likely shot them.
In response to questions on more specific information about who shot who, SLED spokesperson Renée Wunderlich said that the case is closed, and all information available to be shared was put in the agency’s investigative report and closing documents.
Civil rights advocate John C. Barnett worked with several of the shooting victims, adding that a “mystery bullet” retrieved from a 13-year-old’s leg could have revealed more about the shooting.
Barnett believes investigators could have examined the bullet to see if it came from Davis’ or O’Rourke’s gun, but answers were never shared.
The Sun News also requested comment from civil rights attorney Bakari Sellers, who worked with a victim’s family, but did not receive a response.
In the days following the shooting, Barnett became known in the Myrtle Beach community for demanding the release of information in the case, and achieving an audience with victims and city and law enforcement officials. While he noted he was successful in gaining some valuable insight on the shooting, Barnett expressed frustration that after months of waiting for the SLED report to be released, essential questions about who shot bystanders still have no clear answers.
“The 40-page report doesn’t say anything about the bullets,” Barnett said.
Some of the bullets, like the one that hit 15-year-old Serenity Chavis in the leg, couldn’t be recovered because they didn’t remain lodged in the victim, Barnett said. Others couldn’t be removed from the victims they struck, he continued.
But one bullet was pulled from the leg of a 13-year-old boy after he returned home to Martinsville, Virginia, according to Barnett.
Two SLED agents made the trip to Martinsville to retrieve the bullet, according to Barnett. Barnett requested that they share an image of the bullet with him once they had obtained it, he said. He never received the image.
Barnett claims that the bullet could have been analyzed to discover which gun it had come from, even if it had become disfigured from impact. He added that he plans to pursue answers around the bullet and others, as he believes law enforcement officials are not being transparent about the shooting.
“Nobody believes that a cop shooting in that crowd didn’t hit anybody,” he said.
