Three SC mass shootings in six months. Have police kept the public informed?
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- Three deadly mass shootings hit South Carolina within six months; officials varied.
- Beaufort and Brunswick released victim names and updates within 48 hours.
- Myrtle Beach delayed full briefings amid officer-involved probe and criticism.
After deadly mass shootings recently rocked St. Helena Island and Southport, North Carolina, residents relied on local officials for information about the incidents and victims.
It’s reminiscent of a deadly mass shooting that happened in Myrtle Beach in April in the city’s busy tourist area.
Sunday’s shooting in Beaufort County is at least the third deadly mass shooting in South Carolina within the last six months.
How police and city officials deal with providing information to the public about such shootings doesn’t seem to follow the same protocol.
The information that has been released following these two shootings is both similar and different from Myrtle Beach Police’s approach following the deadly mass shooting along Ocean Boulevard.
The Myrtle Beach Police’s handling of the shooting drew widespread criticism for the lack of information released in the days that followed.
Here’s how each department handled information on the mass shootings.
After NC and SC mass shootings, officials provided updates
Within 48 hours after Sunday’s shooting, Beaufort County officials named the four victims killed, and information about fatalities and the incident were shared about eight hours after it took place by the Beaufort County Sheriff’s office on Facebook.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the Beaufort sheriff’s office announced that a press conference about the shooting would be held Wednesday morning.
In Southport, the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Department held a press conference the day after the Sept. 27, 2025, shooting at a waterfront bar, where three people were killed and five injured.
In Myrtle Beach, when a deadly shooting took place on April 26, 2025, information about the incident was shared within 24 hours, including that officers were involved. However, it took four days before city and police officials conducted a press conference to address questions.
In the months that followed, a lengthy investigation into an officer’s involvement in the shooting slowed down the flow of further information.
Another mass shooting happened in Little River on May 25, 2025, when a party boat returned to a dock. While partygoers were exiting the boat, shots were fired, injuring 10 people, The Sun News previously reported.
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Myrtle Beach Police spokesperson Randolph Angotti said that the St. Helena Island and Ocean Boulevard mass shootings are not comparable, in part because of the officer involvement in the Myrtle Beach shooting, as well as the fact that the suspect, who was killed in the shooting, was apprehended at the scene, while possible St. Helena suspects remain under investigation.
Horry County Police and North Myrtle Beach Police began sharing information about the Little River shooting on Facebook about three hours after it occurred, offering updates about injuries and whether there was a threat to the public.
The shooting was determined to be an isolated event coming from an altercation that began on the boat.
Four dead, 20 injured in Beaufort County mass shooting
Authorities received reports of a shooting at Willie’s Bar and Grill on St. Helena Island just before 1 a.m. on Sunday, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
St. Helena is a sea island in Beaufort County.
The sheriff’s office shared a post on Facebook detailing information related to the shooting at 9:06 a.m. on Sunday.
The post shared that officers arrived at the scene and made contact with a large crowd of people, several of whom suffered gunshot wounds.
The post also shared that four people were pronounced dead at the scene, four were transported to local hospitals for critical injuries and at least 20 people were injured. The department announced that it was investigating persons of interest in the case.
The four victims killed in the shooting were named by the Beaufort County Coroner’s office on Monday morning, The Island Packet reported. As of Tuesday, no information was released about suspects or arrests.
Questions remain months after deadly Myrtle Beach April mass shooting
As days passed after the Ocean Boulevard shooting, city officials and police were criticized for not releasing information or answering questions about the shooting.
The shots rang out late at night on April 26, 2025, on the popular Ocean Boulevard tourist strip in downtown Myrtle Beach.
The shooting took place on a Saturday during spring break, one of the busiest times for the city. It happened around 11:50 p.m., and the Myrtle Beach Police Department announced the shooting on Facebook at 12:52 a.m. Sunday.
The initial post did not indicate that officers were involved in the shooting.
Hours later, at 7:09 a.m., the department posted more details online, sharing that officers had observed an altercation that led to one individual firing shots. It stated that an officer returned fire in response, and that the officer was not injured.
The post went on to share that because of the officer’s involvement, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division would conduct an independent investigation of the incident, and the Myrtle Beach Police Department would conduct an internal review.
Nearly three hours later, at 9:53 a.m. Sunday, the post was updated to share that 11 people sustained injuries related to the incident, and the person “shot during officer response” died from his injuries.
About 2:30 p.m. Sunday, the Horry County Coroner’s Office sent out an email identifying the victim as 18-year-old Jerrius Davis of Bennettsville.
Four days after the shooting, on April 30, Mayor Brenda Bethune and Police Chief Amy Prock provided public statements about the incident at a press conference. The conference came after public calls from residents, advocacy groups and others for officials to speak about the shooting.
The Myrtle Beach Police Department shared dash cam footage of the shooting on May 29, as well as a city-produced video update about the incident.
A redacted version of the SLED report was made available about five months after the shooting, on Sept. 10. The report shared victim accounts of that night, and determined that the officer who shot Davis, Brandon O’Rourke, would not face criminal charges. The report was based on business and city cameras, and police bodycam footage.
The report, however, did not clarify who among the victims were shot by Davis and who were shot by O’Rourke. It is clear that O’Rourke shot and killed Davis.
Bethune later said that the city had learned from the experience and would make efforts toward transparency around violent crime.
Myrtle Beach Police spokesperson Randolph Angotti told The Sun News that officials often wait to share information in order to ensure it is the most accurate information that is disseminated and avoid confusion.
