14th and Yaupon: A domestic call in Myrtle Beach transforms to gunfire and a slain cop
Quarter-sized bullet holes run up the wood-paneling of a Yaupon Drive residence. Another is in the car parked in front. A faded, torso-shaped blood pool is near the front porch steps.
A few passers-by stopped to gawk. Some pointed from their windows in the direction of the home. A man got out of a van to place two American flags — with a blue strip representing support for the police — at a makeshift memorial.
The Myrtle Beach home was quiet on Monday morning. Thirty-six hours earlier, it was anything but.
“SHOTS FIRED! SHOTS FIRED!”
9:51 p.m.
The home at the corner of Yaupon and 14th Avenue South became infamous overnight as the central location for a shooting that left two people dead. One was Myrtle Beach police officer Jacob Hancher. The other— who investigators described as a suspect in a domestic dispute— was John Aycoth.
Both men were in their early 20s.
Investigators have released few details of the events before, during and after the shooting. The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division is leading the investigation. State agents typically investigate police shootings. But, it can take months for them to finish the process and provide additional details. The Sun News filed a Freedom of Information Act Request for the case file.
Interviews with area residents and property owners and police radio traffic help tell the story of how a routine Saturday in a South Carolina resort city ended in a barrage of bullets and two people dead.
Oct. 3 was a typical end-of-the-season day in Myrtle Beach. Temperatures started to cool both the air and the bustle that comes from Ocean Boulevard during the summer. Yaupon sits a block away from South Ocean Boulevard. The area has a less than stellar reputation. Some know it for being home to drugs and prostitution. Residences — mostly in old doo-wop hotels — are rundown.
Still, residents say they feel safe despite the perception.
Police activity in Myrtle Beach was routine for most of the evening into the night. A fire-alarm call here, a traffic stop there. Little to cause a raised eyebrow. Same on Yaupon, with an 8:51 p.m. general police call being one of the only entries on a police log.
Until 9:51 p.m.
“There’s a female and male arguing. There was a male saying he was going to go inside and get a [gun.]”
Dispatchers relay that domestic report to all police. The location given is a motel along 14th Avenue South near Yaupon. The initial call is routine in Horry County as domestic calls, with possible weapons, happen nearly nightly. The first officers arrive a minute later and say the actual location is across the street. Within seconds...
“SHOTS FIRED! SHOTS FIRED!”
The routine night ends with yells of police reporting the shots. The cadence of the officers and dispatchers increases as more cops are called to the area. EMS goes on standby, which is standard practice when medical personnel might be needed.
The unidentified officers at the scene said the suspect is barricaded in the house. The danger of the event is now apparent. Dispatchers ask if anyone is hurt, but are cut off.
“SHOTS FIRED AGAIN! SHOTS FRIED!”
“I’m hit,” one officer says, his next few words an inaudible, but he says the word “knee.”
One of the cops tells his fellow officers to avoid 14th and Yaupon as the suspect has a gun, “I believe it’s a long rifle,” he added.
By now, just minutes into the incident, the officers lost sight of the suspect. Cars still drive down 14th and officers call for help to close roads. They then relay more information to dispatchers about the injured officer.
“Station, I have an officer down. He is shot in the leg.”
Taking cover from gunfire
Some residents along Yaupon and neighboring streets enjoyed a relaxing Saturday night, until they heard the gunfire echoing through the air. The Sun News talked to a dozen community members about what they witnessed and experienced. Many initially thought the sounds were firework.
But, quickly realized it was something worse.
Clarence Austin property is across the street from where the shooting happened.
“I hear ‘pop, pop, pop,’” Austin said. He walked outside, where he heard more shots. “I was like, ‘Yep that’s a gunshot.’”
Austin said he then heard a third round of gunfire.
A woman who lives across the street from the shooting said she heard the pops and then the police told her to stay inside. She declined to provide her name for this report. She said she remained inside her apartment until the police came and got her.
She then saw her car, which had a large bullet hole through the front windshield. She said police used the car’s door as a shield as they faced the residence at 14th and Yaupon.
Daisey Stockbauer and Jody Bowles said they came outside when they heard the gunfire. While most would hide from gunfire, they went to it, mostly out of curiosity.
“I was scared,” Stockbauer said.
The two said they saw some cops helping another officer from the scene. The officer was limping, but that officer was relatively OK, the two said. The injured man sat near a fire hydrant until EMS picked him up, the pair said.
Police would later say an unnamed officer was injured in the shooting and released from the hospital on Sunday.
“I wanted to go over and help him,” Stockbauer said.
Terry, who declined to provide his last name, said he was standing on a nearby hotel’s balcony when the shooting started.
“I heard ‘boom, boom, boom,’ and I see people scatter,” Terry said. He added people ran their homes or jumped behind a nearby wall as they were startled by the gunfire.
It wasn’t until hours later that he realized what his ears heard and that an officer died.
“Woah man,” Terry said. “That’s too close to home.”
Suspect is down
Around 10 p.m., Myrtle Beach police officers were still unsure about the suspect’s location in the home. They say he shot from a window that is now covered by a curtain.
A small crowd formed at a nearby apartment complex and officers discussed closing more roads, such as Kings Highway and Ocean Boulevard. The injured officer has left with EMS and his fellow cops say he will be 10-4 — code for “OK.”
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Police continue to discuss the home and try to ensure there are enough officers in the area. Officers talk about having an officer’s eyes on every corner of the house. But, as they discuss their deployment, they are again interrupted.
“Shots fired. Shots fired.”
“Shots fired out the FRONT DOOR! FRONT DOOR by the motorcycle.”
An officer calls for everyone to take cover and asks if anyone can see the suspect. A female voice enters the conversation telling the officers to remain in their spots.
“All positions, be mindful of crossfire,” another officer says.
Seconds later, the gunfire is over.
“SUSPECT IS DOWN, SUSPECT IS DOWN, no weapons in his hand at this point. Not moving,” an officer says.
The immediate aftermath
The next few minutes are filled with confusion as officers try to confirm that one person is no longer a threat. At one point, officers say there are multiple people down. One person is by the small porch, the other person is between a Mazda and an SUV. It’s unclear where the cars were located.
It’s also unclear where Hancher is at this point.
While officers initially stated the person by the porch didn’t have a gun, a cop then say he has the long gun, but they can’t see the weapon.
Crowds gathered at the nearby residences as they try to understand what just happened. Police decided to use one of the cruiser’s PA system to tell people to remain inside. An officer comes on the radio and asks for the latest information. Someone on the scene asks if he wants the info privately, but are told to say it over the radio.
“Possible suspect is down. One or two others are also down at the residence. One officer and that’s already en route [to the hospital.]”
Officers discuss other people in the house at Yaupon and 14th. State agents later said nobody else was injured except for one police officer and the two people killed.
Police on 14th continue to talk for about 30 minutes after the initial response. They wait for the SWAT team to organize and come to the home to ensure it’s safe. At no point in the half-hour are there calls for a down officer or information about Hancher being fatally-wounded in the shooting.
“We do not know if the person down in between the cars is a victim or if he’s a second shooter,” an officer says over the radio.
Video footage
Kyle Clark owns the rental residence at 14th and Yaupon and said the night of the shooting he was only told there was a disturbance at his property. The next morning, SLED agents called and asked if he had surveillance video at the residence.
The seven-unit property is shaped like an “L” unit around Yaupon Drive. The residence that was the shooting scene is the end unit and looks like a small home when viewed from 14th Avenue South. The front door exits on to 14th. Clark has a camera on the property that points directly to the front steps.
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The DVR that recorded the footage was inside the home and Clark went down to the corner on Sunday morning to retrieve it. When he arrived, officers wouldn’t tell him what happened, only to check the news. But then he was told about the officer’s death.
As he walked into his property, Clark said, he had to avoid the blood and other materials near the front steps.
SLED agents were inside the rental unit, and Clark went to play the DVR. He planned to give them the footage on a portable drive. They noticed the DVR time stamp was off by several hours and skipped ahead to find the shooting footage. Clark skipped ahead until a body appeared by the porch stairs—who Clark said was Aycoth.
“I got to that part of the video, they immediately made me pause it,” he said.
Agents then said they were taking the DVR, which Clark didn’t mind. He asked about getting it back, which is when an agent said they would, but with that section deleted. Clark now has concerns that footage won’t be available to the public.
“It’s my tape, it’s my machine, its my business,” Clark said.
As Clark spoke, a black car pulled into the property. A woman who knew Aycoth was driving and declined to talk to The Sun News. The car itself told enough of a story about the hellfire from 36 hours earlier. The windshield had several bullet holes still marked with SLED evidence tape. A back window was missing.
The window laid in the gravel lot near the corner of Yaupon and 14th — a bullet hole through the middle, the edges shattered.
This story was originally published October 6, 2020 at 2:57 PM.
