St. Helena Island mass shooting puts spotlight on illegal machine guns in Beaufort County
Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner refused to say what kind of weapons were used in a mass shooting that killed four people at Willie’s Bar and Grill on St. Helena Island on Sunday because key firearms evidence is still being processed.
However, he acknowledged during a wide-ranging press conference on Wednesday that machine guns, which can fire bullets continuously, are becoming a big problem in the community.
And he criticized judges for setting low bonds for those accused of possessing them.
Immediately after the Sunday morning shooting, witnesses reported hearing what sounded like machine gun fire.
An “ongoing feud” fueled the shooting
At the news conference, Tanner said two or more individuals exchanged gunfire as a result of an “ongoing feud.”
But Tanner would not identify the weapons, nor would he say how many shots were fired, saying only that “multiple” shell casings were collected as evidence still must be processed by the South Carolina Law Environment Division, including shell casings, projectiles from victims and guns.
During the news conference, he described gunfire meant for a single individual being “sprayed” into the crowd.
Bullets from those muzzle blasts killed A’Shan’tek Milledge, 22, of Burton; Amos Gary, 54, of St. Helena; and Chiraad “Roddi” Smalls, 33, and Kashawn “KK” Glaze, 22, both of Beaufort. Several others were wounded. The shooting occurred in the parking lot in front of the bar. Four people were also critically wounded.
While Tanner would not say what kind or how many guns were involved in Sunday morning’s attack, he noted that 24 people had been arrested on possession of machine guns over the past year-and a half. Six of those cases are pending.
Tanner also criticized bond amounts being set by judges in machine gun possession cases.
On Tuesday, a suspect in custody at the Beaufort County Detention Center was released on a $30,000 bond for aggravated breach of peace and possession of a machine gun. The portion of the bond for the machine gun was $10,000. The case was not related to the St. Helena shooting but Tanner called the bond amount “ridiculous.”
“We chase them every week, every weekend,” Tanner said of suspects facing machine gun possession charges who are released on bond.
Tanner also said “switches” are becoming extremely popular and easier to access. Switches are conversion devices that allow legal semi-automatic handguns to be converted to fire as machine guns.
“No one should possess a machine gun,” the sheriff said.
In South Carolina, civilians are only allowed to possess machine guns (also known as fully-automatic weapons) manufactured on or before May 19, 1986, according to South Carolina Attorneys At Law.
And any device that converts a weapon into a machine gun has been illegal since 1990, the South Carolina Daily Gazette said.
This story was originally published October 15, 2025 at 2:28 PM.
