Police have gathered video and physical evidence, and interviewed multiple witnesses, but the shooter or shooters who injured 11 people where the Hurricane II charter boat was docked on Sunday night in Little River remains at large.
Horry County Police Chief Kris Leonhardt, at a press conference at the Horry County Emergency Operations Center on Tuesday, May 27, said law enforcement needs the public’s help to crack the case.
“We’re looking for any type of information the public may have … tips, videos, anything you may have to help us with this,” Leonhardt said. “This is a partnership with us and our community. I always say, if you see something, say something.”
He added that nobody is in custody and “right now I don’t have any suspect information to release, but we are still working the case.”
This much is known: Shots rang out at about 9:15 p.m. Sunday after the boat returned to the dock along Watson Avenue after a chartered party cruise with 120 passengers and four crew members on board.
Leonhardt said “an incident occurred on the boat, and then once they were back at the dock the incident happened off the boat as far as the actual shooting.”
A single shooter is suspected of injuring 11 people.
“Currently our information is just one (shooter), but again, we’re still investigating,” the police chief said. He said police are not yet sure how many rounds were fired.
Leonhardt said most of the injuries were single gunshot wounds to the lower extremities, and none of the injuries were life-threatening.
Of the 11, eight were taken to Grand Strand Medical Center by Horry County Fire and Rescue, Horry County Fire Chief Joey Tanner said. The remainder were transported by personal vehicles, including several to McLeod Seacoast Hospital in Little River.
A police report states an officer applied three tourniquets to victims and one was improvised with a belt.
Leonhardt said that as of Monday morning, eight of the victims had been treated and released from the hospitals, while three remained hospitalized recovering from their wounds.
