'Everyone was screaming:' Gunman fires into crowd, wounds three outside Hilton Head bar
Three people were taken to the hospital late Wednesday night after they were shot in the parking lot of a Hilton Head Island restaurant by a gunman who opened fire on a crowd that had gathered to watch a fight, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office.
The shooting happened outside Mickey's Pub and Grill around 11:30 p.m., according to Capt. Bob Bromage of the Sheriff's Office. Two men and a woman were shot. Two of the victims have been treated and released while the third remains at Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah, Bromage said.
The gunfire broke out after two men entered the restaurant and later left. The were followed out by a third male patron. When two of the men began to fight in the parking lot, the third retrieved a gun and fired into the crowd that gathered, Bromage said.
Two of the men including the alleged gunman ran away and have not been found. The third — the patron who followed the pair out of the bar — was one of the shooting victims.
A woman inside the bar who asked not to be identified told The Island Packet that the two suspects were being "pushed" outside.
"Everyone was like, 'everyone go outside, they are about to fight,'" the woman said.
She remained inside as most of the patrons at the bar went into the parking lot to watch the fight. Then she heard the shots and shouting.
"Everyone was screaming," she said. "I grabbed a woman and ran. She was running outside along the building, so I grabbed her and we kept running toward Home Goods."
Once they got to Home Goods, the woman pulled down her neckline and realized she had been grazed by a bullet on her neck, the woman said.
"(The woman who was grazed) was crying and screaming," the witness said. "She was scared that her girlfriend had been hit by a bullet and she ran back to Mickey's."
The shooter is described as an African American man in his 20s who is between 5-foot-8-inches and 5-foot-10-inches tall. Witnesses said he was wearing a dark colored T-shirt, light colored shorts with a vertical stripe and sneakers at the time of the shooting.
The man who left with the shooter was also an African American man in his 20s with a similar height and build. He was wearing a dark colored sweatshirt, dark jeans and light colored sandals.
Witnesses told investigators the two men may be related as uncle and nephew, Bromage said.
Anyone with information is encouraged to call Crime Stoppers at 1-888-CrimeSC. Tips may also be given to Sgt. Eric Calendine at 843-255-3427.
This story was originally published March 29, 2018 at 12:50 PM with the headline "'Everyone was screaming:' Gunman fires into crowd, wounds three outside Hilton Head bar."