Multiple reports of gunfire this month in Beaufort Co., with 2 injured. Here’s where
At least two people were injured recently in separate shootings in Beaufort County, marking nearly a dozen times that gunshots have been reported to the Sheriff’s Office this month.
Police were called out at 1:20 a.m. May 6 to William Drive on Hilton Head Island after a man was shot while staying at a friend’s house. The man told police he had been walking through the living room when he was shot in his side. Another friend, who was lying on the couch, said he hit the floor when he heard bullets entering the home. He crawled toward the friend who had been shot and called 911.
The owner of the home, who was in another room while the shooting took place, told police she came out to the living room after hearing the gunfire and her friends yelling that one of them had been shot. The injured man, who was not identified, was taken to Hilton Head Hospital and later transferred to Savannah Memorial hospital for treatment. Police found two bullet holes by the living room window.
A few hours earlier, on May 5, police were called to Glaze Drive at 9:07 p.m. after getting a call that someone had been shot. The shooting, they later learned, took place near Smart Adams Lane and Possum Hill Road, which is approximately four minutes away. No other details were available.
There were other reports of gunfire in Burton and on Hilton Head with some resulting in damage to homes and cars but no one being hit. In some cases, residents claimed they heard gunshots fired, but police were unable to find evidence of a shooting.
Here’s a rundown of the other reports of gunfire in May, according to police reports:
May 7
▪ Deputies were called around 3 a.m. to help Beaufort Police Department officers after they received a call of shots being fired on Boundary Street near Crybabies Tavern in Beaufort. While police were driving to the area, they received a call from a woman who said her car had been shot at, according to a report. Deputies found at least two bullet holes in the car. No injuries were reported and no shell casings were found.
▪ A man on Marshland Road told police his home had been hit by bullets. Deputies found multiple spent shell casings in the street. No one was injured.
▪ On William Hilton Drive, deputies responded to the home of a man who said his house was damaged from a shooting that had taken place in the last couple of days. It appeared that two bullets went through a wall of the residence.
May 6
▪ Police went to the Magnolia Park Apartments in Burton after receiving a call that shots had been fired. Residents said they did not see anyone but had been woken to the sound of gunshots. Police were able to determine that at least five cars had been hit and damaged by bullets.
▪ Deputies went to Hilton Head’s Marshland Road area after getting calls about shots being fired nearby. They did not find any shell casings there no injuries, but several residents said they heard gunshots.
May 5
▪ A Hilton Head woman told police she heard five to seven shots fired near Marshland Road and Williams Drive. No evidence turned up.
May 4
▪ Just before 9:30 p.m., a woman on Lawson Road in Burton reported a hail of gunshots outside her home. The woman told police she “protected her kids” until the shots ended. She reported seeing a car she did not recognize in front of her house, Later, deputies found at least 13 .45-caliber shell casings, 19 .40-caliber shells and three 9mm shell casings in the area, along with a cellphone. No injuries were reported, and the woman’s house was not hit.
▪ At 11:16 p.m. on Hogarth Street, police were called about gunshots. Six shell casings were found in the road and no damage or injuries were reported.
May 3
▪ Around 2:55 a.m., deputies went to Rivers Hill Road to investigate a report of gunfire in the area. A resident told deputies that after they heard the shots being fired, they heard a car driving away. Police found no evidence.
▪ At 10:13 a.m., deputies were called out to Staffwood Road in Burton about shots being fired. Spent shell casings were found by police and “numerous bullet holes” were found in front of a home on Possum Hill Road.
May 2
▪ At 11:37 p.m., sheriff’s deputies went to the Rivers Hill Road neighborhood after getting a call about shots fired in the area. A resident met with police and told them he had heard nearly eight shots and collected the spent shell casings himself in the road. Police found other shell casings farther up the road.
▪ Another resident came up to police to tell them that his wife’s car and his home had been hit in the shooting. The back door on the passenger side of the car and the taillight on the driver’s side were damaged, police said. Three bullet holes were found on the outside of the home and at least two bullets went through the walls and into the home.
Nationally, gun violence is on the rise, according to the most recent available data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. Approximately 45,222 people died from gun-related injuries in America, reaching the highest amount of fatalities associated with gun-related injuries since 1994. In 2020, the firearm homicide rate increased by 34.6%.
Maj. Bob Bromage with the Sheriff’s Office said with burglaries and other crimes that take place in one area, it’s easier to determine a pattern. Shootings are impossible to predict, he said. Receiving tips from the community is vital in terms of solving shootings, he said, but residents don’t always come forward with information because of a fear of retaliation.
“It’s (retaliation) a valid concern,” he said. “If there is a threat to the general public, we will send out an advisory.”
Anyone with information regarding these shootings may provide information anonymously to CrimeStoppers of the Lowcountry at 843-554-1111.
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This story was originally published May 12, 2022 at 5:05 PM.
