Prayer circle for St. Helena’s dead and wounded forms in an unlikely place: a parking lot
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St. Helena Mass Shooting
A mass shooting on St. Helena Island killed four people and left a quiet seaside community reeling.
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It was the day after the day after the day after. But since the sun rose on Sunday, all the days started to run together for those living north of the Broad River in Beaufort County.
Whether it was Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday didn’t make much of a difference in a week like this, when four people died in a local shooting that injured 16 more early Sunday morning. The community, filled with questions, frustration, fear and loss, felt like it was functioning with an open wound.
But it was Wednesday, and the sun was starting to set over Beaufort.
Questions remained unanswered about what happened, who did it and why following a press conference earlier in the day with Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner. Scared and frustrated people joined the line of reporters to ask questions and share concerns.
What was learned was that an ongoing feud led to an exchange of gunfire at Willie’s Bar and Grill on St. Helena Island.
Hundreds crowded the bar and its exterior at the time of the shooting around 1 a.m. Shell casings, slugs and weapons are being forensically processed by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. The FBI is asking for videos and photos from bar patrons. And by next week, the department should have more information to provide to the public.
The parking lot at Staples, an office supply store off of Robert Smalls Parkway in Beaufort, was an unconventional place for a prayer. But it was an unconventional week.
The gathering, organized by a young pastor out of Yemassee, was just one of several that sprung up across the region in the wake of one of the deadliest shootings in the history of the county, where residents prayed, vented and talked about what needs to be done to address gun violence.
Others were held in Burton, where a mourning family of one of the victims held a community prayer in a small barbershop on Jennings Road. At Willie’s, the site of the shooting, a small group gathered around a makeshift vigil of vases of roses to lift their prayer. Thursday night, even more residents turned out at the Beaufort County Black Chamber of Commerce in Beaufort.
At the Staples gathering, people slowly started to step out of their cars just before 6 p.m, unsure where where to go at first. Some stood in small clusters. Others stood alone. Some came straight from work. Two women still wore their scrubs. Someone brought their baby.
Eventually a small group formed near the back of the parking lot. Hugs and kisses were exchanged by those who knew each other. Among them were community leaders and elected officials.
But quickly, a detached few became a semicircle connected with intertwined hands. Soon after, prayers were lifted. Anita Singleton Prather, a Beaufort native and matriarch of the Gullah Traveling Theatre, stood in the center.
Her voice moved with ease across the two parking spaces now filled with 30 people.
“Enough is enough,” she said with her eyes pressed shut.
“God we pray for the parents, we pray for the family members, Lord. This whole entire community is mourning… Bring us together. We need your love, and your love, and your love and your love.”
As she spoke, others joined in, forming a symphony of prayer. “In the name of Jesus,” a woman sang out. “Thank you, Lord God.” Tears welled in her eyes. “Have mercy, Lord,” another woman prayed. “Bless your name,” another said.
“Our children are depressed, Father God, they are angry, Father God, they are enraged, Father God, they are feeling hopeless,” Prather said. “Let’s give them hope.”
“It’s your peace that surpasses all understanding,” she said. “Your peace that leaves nothing missing, nothing broken. Your peace that this world can’t give and your peace that this world can’t shake.”
Beaufort City Councilman Josh Scallate pulled a small piece of paper from his pocket with a prepared message.
“Our community has been pierced at its very point, touched by a violent act that claimed innocent lives and left behind unimaginable sorrow,” Scallate said. “What happened at Willie’s was not just another tragic headline. It was a massacre that reached into the heart of our home.”
The councilman did not miss a beat as he finished the page.
The gathering took all of 15 minutes. As quickly as people arrived, they returned to their cars, wishing each other a safe arrival back to their families, their homes.
While leaning out the window of her big white van, Prather said prayer shouldn’t be confined to the comfortable four walls of a church but on every street corner. It all made sense on a week like this. It’s why after starting out in a traditional Baptist church, she brought her ministry to the youth as a counselor and teacher.
“This is my community... my kids,” she said. “I care about my beloved Beaufort.” She has always chosen the road that leads back to the Lowcountry.
The parking lot looked and sounded again just like any parking lot as the sun continued to set over Beaufort. Shoppers could hear the sounds of carts screeching into their corral and cars moving slowly in the aftermath of rush hour.
But for those who joined their hands for the prayer that night, it’s possible the parking lot would always sound different. It would sound like the voices of many.
“It’s your peace,” they said. “Your peace. Your peace. Your peace. Your peace. Your peace.”
This story was originally published October 17, 2025 at 11:36 AM.
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