Hilton Head man shot 6 times inside Shelter Cove apartment; 3 other gunfire incidents
Police said a man was in stable condition after being shot six times inside his Hilton Head Island apartment by an unknown assailant Sunday evening. It was one of four gunfire-related incidents reported on the island within two weeks, although no other cases involved injuries.
Beaufort County deputies responded around 7:15 p.m. Sunday to an apartment complex on Harbourside Lane, located in the Shelter Cove area. The mother of the gunshot victim led police to the unit, where they found a trail of blood on a spiral staircase and a man on the floor “screaming in pain,” according to an incident report.
Officers rolled the man onto his back and found one gunshot wound “high on his left hip. One officer maintained conversation with the victim while applying pressure to the wound, noting that “no tourniquet would control the bleeding.” The man had “multiple” other gunshot wounds in both knees, his right thigh and lower legs, the report says.
The man told police he had been walking down the spiral staircase in his apartment when he heard a knock at the door. An “unknown individual” walked into the unit and opened fire, he said.
First responders took the man to Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah.
Searching the apartment, investigators found a number of shell casings near the front door and a “large amount of blood” in the kitchen and living room, the incident report says.
A suspect had not been arrested as of Wednesday, according to Master Sgt. Daniel Allen of the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
11/30: Shots fired during house party
Beaufort County deputies responded to a noise complaint around 10:45 p.m. Saturday from a house on Habitat Circle, located off Marshland Road in northern Hilton Head. They collected seven shell casings in the roadway in front of the home’s driveway, noting two “possible impact holes” in a backyard fence.
A Habitat Circle resident gave police a small amount of details: He had hosted a party and kicked out two men “who were not supposed to be there,” an incident report says. A fight then broke out in the road just outside the house and one man started shooting what was potentially an automatic weapon, he said.
11/29: Minor arrested on gun charges
Sounds of gunfire were reported around 5:30 p.m. Friday near the back end of Hilton Head Gardens, a frequent site of gun violence on the island. Some bystanders claimed they hadn’t heard anything, while one anonymous witness told police the shots came from an underage boy “showing off his new pistol.”
Deputies did not find any evidence that day, but returned on Saturday when a boy admitted to shooting at the ground near the back fence of the apartment complex. He was petitioned to Family Court on charges of unlawful handgun possession and discharging a firearm within Hilton Head town limits.
11/21: Bullet holes found in car
Responding to a call on Nov. 23, police found three bullet holes in a Nissan parked outside a house on Hilton Head’s Gumtree Road. The homeowner told police he heard gunfire the night of Nov. 21 but “did not think much” of the noise because it was not uncommon in the area.
Deputies found “no other evidence” around the man’s car but determined the bullets appeared to have been fired somewhere west from the house, in the direction of Squire Pope Road.
This story was originally published December 4, 2024 at 12:32 PM.
