23-year-old Beaufort resident arrested for double murder at Jasper County sports bar
Jamar Nazir Smith-Hagood, a 23-year-old resident of Beaufort, has been charged in connection with a Saturday morning shooting that killed twin brothers and injured two more in the parking lot of a Jasper County sports bar.
Smith-Hagood was charged Thursday with unlawful possession of a firearm, attempted murder and two counts of murder, according to Jasper County judicial records.
Thursday’s charges were Smith-Hagood’s first violent criminal offenses, although he previously pled guilty in Jasper County court to a drug possession charge and unlawfully carrying a pistol in 2019. In Beaufort County, Smith-Hagood faces three pending charges — possession of cocaine and two firearms charges — stemming from arrests in 2022.
Smith-Hagood graduated from Battery Creek High School in 2018 and played on the junior varsity football team, according to his public social media accounts.
The deadly shooting took place around 2:30 a.m. Saturday in the parking lot of Sports Baba Bar, located in the Riverwalk Business Park in eastern Jasper County. Affidavits from the S.C. Law Enforcement Divison (SLED) say Smith-Hagood was involved in a physical dispute with “two rival groups of people” when he brandished a firearm and shot multiple times at the victims, striking one person in the leg and fatally injuring two others.
Several witnesses identified Smith-Hagood as the shooter when shown surveillance footage of the incident from a nearby business, according to arresting documents.
TraJaan T. Fripp was pronounced dead at the scene immediately following the shooting, while Tranquan Shalek Fripp died at a local hospital, according to the Jasper County Coroner’s Office. The twins, who both lived in Beaufort, were killed three days after their 24th birthday.
Funeral services for the Fripp brothers will be held at Allen Funeral Home of Ridgeland, according to the men’s obituaries.
Because the case’s victims and suspect resided outside of Jasper County, the investigation was turned over to SLED on Sunday. A SLED spokesperson could not immediately be reached for additional questions Thursday morning.
This report will be updated as more information becomes available.
This story was originally published December 21, 2023 at 11:32 AM.
