JUST IN: 18-year-old Bennettsville man identified as subject in deadly Myrtle Beach officer-involved shooting
The Myrtle Beach police officer involved in a deadly Saturday night shooting along North Ocean Boulevard following a large altercation acted appropriately, Mayor Brenda Bethune told News13.
Horry County Deputy Coroner Tamara Willard on Sunday identified the person shot as 18-year-old Jerrius Davis of Bennettsville.
“Our officer saw what happened, and when he saw that an altercation was taking place and a gun was being shot, the officer responded very quickly and in my opinion, saved lives,” she said. “Last night could have been so much worse.”
Eleven people were hurt and one person was shot and killed in what authorities called a disturbance. Neither the officer’s name nor the person who was shot were immediately identified.
It happened just before midnight in the 900 block of North Ocean Blvd., after officers noticed a disturbance involving multiple people.
Video obtained by News13 on Sunday shows people scattering and police rushing to the scene.
The city’s police department said on Facebook it would launch an internal review, and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division is also investigating, which is standard procedure in any officer-involved shooting.
Bethune said once SLED finishes its report, city leaders will release it to the public.
“Unfortunately, with social media there’s going to be a lot of comments being said that are not true, and (people) trying to make more out of this, and we want to get the facts out so that people know what has happened,” Bethune said.
Police said that during the altercation, somebody fired a weapon, leading to the officer responding with his own.
“The individual shot during officer response has passed away as a result of their injuries,” police said on Facebook.
There’s trouble all over the world, we can’t control that. So we just have to come and not let fear spoil our vacation. We still come here to enjoy the sights, enjoy the views, so I don’t feel threatened at all,” he said. “I’ve been coming here for years. I’ll still come.”
Councilman Gregg Smith told News13 he hopes others agree.
“It’s very unfortunate that people feel they need to solve their problems with guns but it’s an isolated incident and not indicative of the reality that most Myrtle Beach visitors encounter,” he said.
Last month, Police Chief Amy Prock said major crimes including homicides, burglaries and aggravated assaults have dropped nearly in half since 2015, in part thanks to 248 new cameras, expanded neighborhood teams and new technology like acoustic gunshot detection.
