Why Alan Wilson must say more about the Scott Spivey shooting | Opinion

Attorney General Alan Wilson should not be allowed to get through the South Carolina Republican primary to become the state’s governor without having to answer for his handling of the Scott Spivey shooting case.

It may be the most important question for a man who hopes to become the state’s top executive based on his professed ability to keep us safe.

Spivey was shot and killed by two men on Sept. 9, 2023, on the side of a road in Horry County as he was trying to return to his home just across the state line in Tabor City, N.C. The men — Weldon Boyd and Kenneth Williams — shot him after chasing his vehicle in theirs for nine miles.

They claimed self-defense, alleging Spivey held “a gun out the window” a gun during a road rage incident early during the chase and was driving erratically, enough to run them off the road.

An eyewitness claimed to have seen much of the interaction and blamed Spivey for what happened. But some of her story does not match forensic evidence from the scene of the shooting nor video evidence that captured Boyd’s truck chasing Spivey’s.

That witness also said she saw Spivey shooting through the windshield of the men’s truck, though the men had actually been shooting through their windshield at Spivey.

Other eye witnesses who saw parts of the exchange backed up part of what Boyd and Williams claimed, though one eyewitness is on record asking why the men kept chasing Spivey if they really felt threatened.

And there are competing narratives about who shot first after Spivey pulled over alongside a road, and Boyd and Williams pulled up right behind him.

It seems Wilson’s office did not examine all the evidence before ruling out a potential prosecution and did not know that multiple Horry County police officers were friendly with Boyd and took steps to present the case in the most favorable terms for him.

Multiple officers are now under investigation or have been fired for their culpability. And Wilson’s office either didn’t know or care that Boyd and Williams bragged about killing Spivey, as though they had bagged a deer.

There are lots of layers and complications to the story, which independent journalists Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell do a great job of exploring and detailing in the “True Sunlight” podcast.

My focus is simpler: Does Alan Wilson believe residents have the right in South Carolina to get into a fight, even only a verbal fight, chase down the person we fought for nine miles, then claim self-defense if we kill that person in unclear circumstances?

Wilson’s office declared Boyd and Williams had a right to shoot and kill Spivey because they felt threatened.

It also said, bizarrely, that the two men had a legal right to say they were conducting a citizen’s arrest because of Spivey’s behavior early in the chase, such as when he presented or potentially pointed his gun.

Never mind that Boyd is on record saying he pulled behind Spivey to fix the trailer he was pulling with his truck, not to make an arrest.

The implications of this case will resonate far beyond what happens to Boyd and Williams.

Wilson’s office is sending a message that residents shooting each other on the side of the road after an argument is not just permitted in South Carolina but also an acceptable way to resolve disputes in a state saturated with guns.

It’s not enough for Wilson to claim it was his office’s best legal judgment about the facts. He’s vying to become governor, responsible for executing the state’s laws.

If South Carolina’s stand your ground and citizen arrest laws permit the kind of killing that occurred about two years ago, will Wilson push the General Assembly to change and clarify those laws? Or is he comfortable with these types of killings?

Wilson has not done enough to make his views clear. A couple of months ago, I wrote that tourists should stay away from South Carolina because it’s too unsafe.

If voters elevate Wilson to the governor’s mansion without requiring him to answer this question, the state will be even less safe, and there would be more reason for tourists to stay away and residents to fear.

This story was originally published July 23, 2025 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Why Alan Wilson must say more about the Scott Spivey shooting | Opinion."