A year after Myrtle Beach downtown mass shooting, safety questions remain

Sunday, April 26, marks one year since Myrtle Beach was rocked by a mass shooting that left 11 injured and a shooter dead downtown.

In the year since, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) conducted an investigation and released a report of its findings, but questions remain.

It’s still largely unclear who shot who in the chaos of one of the largest mass shootings in Myrtle Beach history.

Shortly before midnight, 18-year-old Jerrius Davis pulled a handgun from his waistband and fired multiple times into the crowd on Ocean Boulevard, the SLED investigation found. As the Marlboro County teenager attempted to flee on foot, Myrtle Beach Police Officer Brandon O’Rourke discharged his department-issued handgun multiple times, striking Davis.

It’s definitively clear that O’Rourke lethally shot Davis, who was pronounced dead at the scene. However, details about who shot others treated for gunshots remain unclear.

Four days after the mass shooting, former Mayor Brenda Bethune and former police Chief Amy Prock addressed the incident publicly for the first time, saying the city lacked answers and the investigation was out of their hands.

“Quite simply, we didn’t have all of the information on Sunday, enough information on Sunday,” Bethune said during the press conference after the shooting. “We were waiting on SLED, you’ve heard this is a SLED investigation, not our investigation.”

“We are not a large city that deals with murders every day, or officer involved shootings, so we have to take this situation and learn from it,” Bethune said. “What we have learned is that yes, the public deserves answers more quickly and that we have to get those answers out more quickly. That is our responsibility.”

When asked if he thought how the injuries occurred would ever be made public, current Mayor Mark Kruea wasn’t optimistic.

“Experience is a hard teacher. That was definitely a ‘how not to’ lesson in communication, and I know people still have questions,” Kruea said of the shooting. “Our goal must be to prevent such anniversaries in the future. We’ve seen transition this past year, with much work still to come.”

What did the SLED investigation find?

In September, SLED did release a 40-page report detailing its findings, including witness accounts and forensic findings. Because some of the injured victims are listed in both Davis’ and O’Rourke’s lines of fire, it’s not clear which gunman shot which victims.

When contacted for more information about which person shot which victim, SLED referred The Sun News to the agency’s report and closing documents.

For the Myrtle Beach Police Department’s part, spokesperson Randolph Angotti directed The Sun News to a redacted conclusion at the end of SLED’s report. The section affirms that O’Rourke shot Davis, but does not clarify the shooter of the surviving victims.

“According to the firearms examination, the projectile removed from Davis at autopsy was determined to have been fired by Pfc. O’Rourke’s handgun, based on matching individual identifying characteristics,” the section says. “No marks of value for identification were found on the projectiles and/or fragments removed from [redacted], and [redacted]. Projectiles that struck [redacted] and McManus, and an additional one that struck [redacted] were not removed. There was no projectile recovered associated with injuries.”

Civil rights advocate John C. Barnett, who worked with several of the victims, expressed doubts about law enforcement transparency in the case when SLED released its report last fall.

“Nobody believes that a cop shooting in that crowd didn’t hit anybody,” said Barnett.

City leadership’s response

In the year since the shooting, it’s remained a hot topic for city leadership and residents alike.

Former Chief Prock, who rarely addressed the public or sat down for interviews, officially retired on April 2. In the search for her replacement, the city brought on Public Sector Search and Consulting, a firm which has placed more than 120 police chiefs in U.S. cities, to conduct a nationwide search.

In sessions soliciting public input for the hiring process, residents cited lack of transparency and community policing as top concerns with the Myrtle Beach Police Department. At one meeting, participants criticized the department’s handling of last year’s mass shooting.

Crime and safety – particularly in the downtown area – has also been a vocal priority for the city outside the search for Prock’s replacement. One installment in Myrtle Beach’s recent social media downtown video series focused exclusively on downtown safety.

In the video, Interim Police Chief Chris Smith and Lt. Tom Vest say revitalization efforts have made the downtown area safer, touting a sharp drop in part one offenses, which include violent crimes as well as property offenses like burglary and larceny-theft.

At the mayoral level, the issue of public safety was a central focus for nearly every candidate in last year’s election. Kruea shared concerns about both safety and communication in his campaign. Heading into his first term in January, Kruea told The Sun News he wanted to improve transparency and increase police staffing.