Mysterious bullet holes discovered inside Bluffton furniture store surprise manager
While re-configuring merchandise at the Havertys Furniture store on 2 Buckingham Plantation Drive, branch manager John Gamsky discovered something unexpected on the display floor: bullet holes. Just before 11 a.m. on Tuesday, two Beaufort County deputies responded to the store, located less than a mile from the Tanger Outlets and across the street from Moss Creek.
According to an incident report from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office, while moving some furniture, Gamsky discovered a hole in the wall and another hole in a chest-style dresser. Employees then found a bullet under one of the drawers in the dresser. The overall damages to the store’s interior totaled to approximately $1,500, according to Gamsky’s statement to the Beaufort County deputies.
There also appeared to be two bullet holes on the exterior wall on the west side of the building, although only one of the bullets actually entered the building. While walking through the parking lot, one of the deputies came across three brass 9 mm Luger shell casings. Those casings, along with the bullet inside of the dresser, were collected and placed into evidence.
The building on the other side of the parking lot, The Hilton Head Shop, located at 1504 Fording Island Road, might have also been affected by a similar incident. According to the report, there could have been one or two bullet holes in the exterior of that business. The business owner decided that she did not need to report the incident, since the only damages from the possible bullet holes were on the building’s exterior.
The event, according to Master Sergeant Danny Allen, was not caught on camera. That side of the building, the report said, was typically where people would “hang out at night,” and Gamsky added that people have dumped trash on that side of the building before. However, he has never seen an incident like this one at his branch. Sgt. Allen confirmed that this has been the only report of an incident of this nature in the area. Gamsky plans on installing more cameras on the west side of the building’s exterior moving forward.
Gamsky said that, because of where the damage was located and that it was so difficult to spot with the furniture’s configuration, the incident could have taken place anytime in the past month. The case is closed, according to Sgt. Allen, but they are awaiting forensic evidence of the shell casings from the store’s parking lot.
This story was originally published July 11, 2024 at 1:28 PM.
