Police respond to viral photo showing North Myrtle Beach officer with firearm
A photo showing a North Myrtle Beach Police officer holding what appears to be a shotgun has been circulating on social media, prompting the department to respond.
The police department posted on its Facebook page Saturday that it is aware of the photograph and the firearm shown is a “less-then-lethal-shotgun, a tool carried by trained officers to provide additional options for safely managing rapidly evolving situations while reducing the likelihood that deadly force will be necessary.”
Officers responded at 10:13 p.m. Friday to the area of 14th Avenue South and Ocean Boulevard after receiving numerous 911 calls reporting a large fight involving several hundred individuals and the use of fireworks, according to the post. When officers arrived, they encountered a chaotic scene with large groups of people running in multiple directions, fighting and creating significant public safety concerns, the post said.
All available North Myrtle Beach patrol officers responded to restore order, while the Horry County Police Department assisted by handling other calls for service throughout the city, the post said.
As a precaution, officers deployed less-than-lethal shotguns should the situation require their use. “At no time were any less-than-lethal rounds fired,” the post said. “The visible presence of these tools helped officers maintain control of the situation while working to safely disperse the crowd and protect the public.”
The post said that over the past week, North Myrtle Beach Police department has responded to numerous calls for service in the Crescent Beach area after hundreds of young adults from the same Virginia school district coordinated rentals within a three- to four-block area, the post said.
“While the overwhelming majority of these young people have been cooperative, the unusually large concentration has resulted in significant quality-of-life concerns for residents, including noise complaints, large crowds, pedestrian safety issues, and several incidents requiring police intervention,” the post said.
It is unclear from the post if any arrests were made during the incident. It is also unclear where the original post came from.
