Is downtown Myrtle Beach safe? What tourists, locals and employees are saying
On Friday night, the third Ocean Boulevard shooting in recent months took place in Myrtle Beach, resulting in a fatality.
The shooting, which happened at a popular downtown restaurant, Peaches Corner, allegedly happened after a verbal altercation between restaurant employee Evony McCray and Myrtle Beach resident Grayson Meyers. McCray, 17, admitted after being detained by police that he fired the shots at Meyers, 18, that resulted in his death, The Sun news previously reported.
A bystander outside the restaurant was shot in the leg.
This came after another shooting near Peaches Corner earlier this month left one person injured. In April, a shooting in the area resulted in 11 people being injured and one killed. The string of violent incidents has prompted an effort to alter citywide juvenile curfew rules, and has led to mixed responses from tourists and locals.
While some say they’ll never venture into downtown Myrtle Beach again, others feel that the area isn’t any more dangerous than other tourist destinations.
On social media, concerns over safety have allegedly prevented some from planning vacations to Myrtle Beach. Users across social platforms have expressed worry about the recent shootings and resorted to calling Myrtle Beach “Murder Beach” because of the shooting-related casualties.
But other online posters have said they never feel unsafe downtown, and news of the recent shootings has not deterred them from making the most of Myrtle Beach’s attractions. Some locals have also contended that the area has just as much crime as other comparable areas.
For shooting victim, no plans to return
Serenity Chavis, 15, was one of the victims injured in the April mass shooting, which resulted in the death of 18-year-old Jerrius Davis. The Laurinburg, NC resident was visiting Myrtle Beach for spring break with friends when the shots rang out on Ocean Boulevard. Chavis suffered a gunshot wound to the leg, and while her injury is improving, her outlook on future Myrtle Beach vacations is not.
“Before, I thought, you know, it was fun,” Chavis said. “I wouldn’t be there at all now. I wouldn’t go back. I’m scared now.”
Chavis said she and her friends would regularly come down to Myrtle Beach for a weekend because it’s the closest beach spot to their town. Before the shooting, she said she and her friends never had any safety concerns while visiting Myrtle Beach. Now though, they don’t have any plans to come back.
Because Myrtle Beach was always the go-to vacation spot for Chavis, she said she doesn’t know where she’ll spend her breaks in the future.
Tourists say they don’t know, don’t care about shootings
On Tuesday afternoon, families visiting Myrtle Beach for summer vacations milled about on Ocean Boulevard, walking past the boarded-up exterior of Peaches Corner without paying it much regard.
In interviews with The Sun News, the tourists revealed that many of them had no idea what had taken place there on Friday night, or earlier this summer.
Ally Robinson, visiting Myrtle Beach with her young children from North Dayton, OH, said she hadn’t heard about any of the shootings. Upon hearing about them, her view of the area wasn’t changed.
In their hometown, she said, shootings “happen all the time,” so hearing about them doesn’t cause her much concern. Besides, she said, “we keep a close eye on our kids anyway, and we’re not out late at night.”
Luther Roberts and Sandra Ross, who were visiting from the Asheville, NC area, also hadn’t heard about the shootings, nor were they concerned.
“I still feel really good,” Roberts said. “I’ve been coming here for a long time, 40 years maybe.”
Ross said that she felt that worrying too much about crime and danger can take the joy out of life.
“It can happen at your front door,” she said in response to learning of the shootings.
Expressing similar sentiments, Shondra Ybye, visiting from Minnesota, said she hadn’t heard about the incidents either, and they haven’t changed her perception of the area.
“Just use precaution,” she shrugged.
Each of the above visitors said that they have not felt unsafe while visiting the downtown Myrtle Beach area.
Despite shootings, downtown employee says it’s business as usual
In the Ocean Boulevard shop Generation X, business hasn’t slowed down in the wake of the recent shootings, store manager Wendy Reyes said.
While Reyes said that downtown crime has been “worse recently” with the three shootings, she added that most of the tourists the shop caters to “have no clue.” While she didn’t witness Friday’s shooting, she noted that businesses bounced back in the aftermath quickly, and life on the strip fell back into its normal rhythm with surprising speed.
A few hours after the shooting Peaches Corner was reopened and they were serving, she said.
Peaches Corned declined to comment on Tuesday afternoon.
Reyes expressed that she “wouldn’t mind” if the city permanently implemented a stricter juvenile curfew. She thinks it might be a “great idea” to protect minors and adults alike.
But even with the occurrence of these shootings downtown, Reyes doesn’t see a reason why people should stop visiting the area.
“I have been seeing a lot of videos saying ‘Don’t come to Myrtle Beach, don’t come to Myrtle Beach,’ but then if that’s the case, don’t go to Florida. Don’t go to tourist spots,” she said.
This story was originally published July 3, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
