Shots fired call, barricaded suspect lead to heavy police response near Coastal Carolina
A 4-hour standoff at an apartment near the Coastal Carolina University campus on Thursday ended when police forced their way inside and took the suspect into custody.
The ordeal started with a shots fired call at the Campus Walk Apartments off U.S. Highway 501 around 7:15 p.m. Around midnight, a SWAT team entered the barricaded apartment and took the suspect into custody, Horry County police Spokeswoman Mikayla Moskov said. Nobody was hurt in the incident.
Moskov said Friday that no charges have been filed in the incident, though it remains an active investigation.
Soon after the shots fired call, officers evacuated nearby apartments and CCU officials posted on social media, warning students in the area to shelter in place.
When police arrived on scene they thought they heard gunshots, Moskov said. Though no weapon was found in the apartment, she said, and it was later determined that no shots were fired. Police believe the suspect made a “popping” sound by other means, but Moskov not elaborate.
Madelyn Fender said she was riding a bike home with friends from the CCU gym when they thought they heard the first two shots.
“We pedaled really fast,” she said. When they got home they heard another shot, she said.
“We were concerned for our safety at first,” Fender said from her front porch, flanked by friends Tori Hyatt and Taylor Hodge.
Hyatt said they all called their parents, and Fender said her mom cried when learning of the situation. An hour later, though, none of the three sounded too concerned.
A couple of residents of the Campus Walk Apartments, who declined to provide their name, said a few police officers came to their doors, saying they had to evacuate. They fled their homes and waited in a small park nearby.
CCU police, Horry County Fire Rescue and other first responders were at the complex. Police cruisers blocked roads to the scene and Campus Walk residents were not allowed into their homes during the incident.
The SWAT and bomb teams tried to talk to the suspect, but he barricaded himself inside an apartment, Moskov said. Police deployed gas canisters and used bomb robots to see inside the apartment.
This story was originally published February 21, 2019 at 8:37 PM.
