Cops capture 17-year-old Burton suspect in July shooting at Hilton Head Gardens apartments
An anonymous tip led to the detention of a 17-year-old Burton teen who police say is responsible for a July shooting at the Hilton Head Gardens apartments that injured one person. The suspect was 16 years old at the time of the shooting, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
Beaufort County deputies received the “suspicious activity” tip around 2:52 p.m. Saturday, with the caller saying several people were trespassing in a vacant apartment at the Hilton Head Gardens apartments. When officers arrived at the unit, a teen jumped out of the first-story window and fled, according to the Tuesday morning alert.
Police found the teen less than 20 minutes later inside of a vehicle at the Sea Turtle Marketplace, located less than a mile away. Law enforcement took the 17-year-old boy into custody on five charges including attempted murder, unlawful carry of a firearm and possession of a weapon during a violent crime. His name is not being released due to his status as a minor.
The suspect was transported Saturday to the SC Department of Juvenile Justice in Columbia. His detention hearing in Family Court is scheduled for this week.
Back on July 19, a barrage of gunfire targeting a group of minors in the Hilton Head Gardens apartment complex parking lot sent an 18-year-old male to Savannah Memorial Hospital with a non-fatal gunshot wound. Police identified the suspect, then 16, “within a week” of the July shooting.
The July shooting came just over a month after a 32-year-old woman was shot in the head on June 9 while intervening in a dispute in the same parking lot. Police are still searching for 31-year-old Hilton Head man Bernard Garvin, who is wanted for attempted murder and other charges in connection with that shooting.
The apartment complex has a troubled reputation for repeated violence. A lawsuit filed in June against Hilton Head Gardens claims the apartments are “plagued by violent crime” due to the leasing company’s negligent screening practices. The plaintiff, whose daughter was assaulted in the apartments’ parking lot in late 2020, cites several crimes that took place at the complex, including the murder of a Bluffton teen in December 2018 and the shooting of a young child on Aug. 21, 2017. The lawsuit is ongoing and was transferred in late July to the U.S. District Court for South Carolina.
This report will be updated as more information becomes available.
This story was originally published August 15, 2023 at 12:35 PM.
