WARNING: Some may find the video below disturbing.
There were several shootings in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina over the weekend and one of them was caught on video and streamed on Facebook Live. Tourist Bubba Hinson filmed the scene from his hotel room, at first thinking it was just a mob delaying traffic. It suddenly turned tragic when one man pulled out a weapon and began firing. There were multiple injuries in the shooting and people were taken to the hospital for non-life threatening injuries.
“If you’re watching this, stay away from Fourth Avenue North and Ocean Boulevard,” Hinson is heard yelling in the video. “There’s multiple people been shot!” Hinson is also heard saying that it looked like an officer was down.
Hinson later told Myrtle Beach Online that he thought the people were dancing, which is why he began filming it. “Then, they started fighting. Then, they started shooting,” he said.
Police told Myrtle Beach Online that Myrtle Beach Police officers arrived at the scene t around 12:25 a.m. ET Sunday. Shortly before they arrived, a fight broke out and one individual took out a gun and began firing. He carjacked a vehicle and the suspect was apprehended. His identity wont be released until the arrest warrant is served.
Although Hinson is heard yelling that a police officer was down, Lt. Joey Crosby of Myrtle Beach Police Department told Myrtle Beach Online that a security officer was grazed in the leg and a patrol car was hit in the shooting. The security officer received medical attention at the scene and was not taken to a hospital.
The shooting was just one of four over the weekend police investigated and they are not believed to be related. At 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, a gunshot victim was found at Coastal Grand Mall. Just 10 minutes later, there was another reported shooting at the Crown Reef Motel, but no victims were reported there.
At 9:25 p.m. Sunday night, Crosby told Myrtle Beach Online that there was a reported shooting at the Dunes Village resort. When officers arrived at the scene, witnesses refused to talk to police. “Based on the limited information collected at the scene, officers believe this incident began as a verbal altercation and then shots were fired,” Crosby said of the fourth reported shooting of the weekend. “It is unknown if the shots were fired at someone or in the air.”
There is some local concern that shootings like these will damage Myrtle Beach’s reputation as a welcoming tourist town, especially since Hinson’s video has been seen over 4 million times. According to the city’s tourism site, tourism generates $7 billion a year for the area.
“We’re gonna send a message to do everything that’s humanly possible to stop this violence in our city,” Mayor John Rhodes told Myrtle Beach Online. “I’m sorry for our city that this happened.”
Hinson’s entire video remains on Facebook, but under a graphic violence warning. It has been seen over 4.1 million times and shared over 100,000 times.
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