Suspect remains on the loose after shooting at Pirates Voyage

A shooting in the parking lot of Pirates Voyage Sunday night led police on a hunt for a 22-year-old gunman, who was last known to have lived in Little River.

A security guard at the dinner theater told Horry County police he saw two males, one white and one black, run from the front of the business to the back where he heard what sounded like three to five gunshots around 8:30 p.m. The guard said that one of the men then ran back in the opposite direction, got into a white car and sped away, according to a police report.

Another employee told police that he saw the white man run to the back parking lot and turn to fire three shots back towards the building. The employee was able to identify the suspect through a DMV photo, but took cover when the shooting began and couldn’t advise what direction the suspect took when he fled the scene, according to the report.

Another witness told police she had “gotten a call from her baby daddy asking if she was OK.” When she said she was, the caller informed her that the suspect had called him saying there had been a “shootout at Pirate’s Voyage” and that a woman was shot, according to the report. Police said the witness pointed out where the suspect had been sitting and the party he had been with, which was watching the show.

Officers waited until the end of the show to speak to a man witnesses said the suspect had been seen with, but the man denied any knowledge of the suspect and acted “very nervous” when questioned, according to the report. Another woman in the party also denied the suspect had been with them, police said.

Their server told a different story, saying that the party-of-five told her they would have one more joining them later and that the one, who joined them, was the suspect, but he was gone when she returned with his drink order. The party asked for a box for his food “because he was not coming back,” the report stated.

No local hospitals reported any gunshot victims, police noted in the report. Horry County officers searched the scene and found a 9-millimeter bullet, but did not find the suspect when they checked two of his last known addresses.

The suspect was identified as a white male with brown hair and blue eyes. His name and other identifying information was blacked out in the censored report.

The case was administratively closed, according to the report.

This story was originally published June 5, 2017 at 5:09 PM with the headline "Suspect remains on the loose after shooting at Pirates Voyage."