Live Updates: Sheriff investigating Beaufort, SC bar shooting as of Monday afternoon
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St. Helena Mass Shooting
A mass shooting on St. Helena Island killed four people and left a quiet seaside community reeling.
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The sound of rapid gunfire outside a Beaufort County bar sent hundreds of people running for their lives at a high school alumni event.
Four people were shot and killed at Willie’s Bar and Grill on St. Helena Island, according to police, and four more gunshot victims were rushed to local hospitals in critical condition.
As of 4:30 p.m. Monday, the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office had not released information about potential suspects or announced any arrests. The agency said it is investigating “persons of interest” and asked the public to contact Master Sgt. Duncan at 843-255-3418 with information.
This story will be constantly updated. Check back here for live updates.
6:30 p.m.: Monday arrest of St. Helena man is unrelated to Willie’s incident
The Monday afternoon arrest of a St. Helena man on charges of aggravated breach of peace and unlawful possession of a machine gun was unrelated to the shooting at Willie’s, according to Lt. Daniel Allen of the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
Social media posts circulating linked the man to the crime, but Allen said there’s no connection.
5 p.m.: Owner of bar calls shooting act of terrorism
Willie Turral, the owner of Willie’s Bar and Grill on St. Helena Island, said the venue was the site of a “tailgate party” held Saturday night for alumni of Battery Creek High School.
He insisted that those behind the shooting were not part of the reunion event.
“None of them were patrons of the building,” Turral said of the person or persons who fired the shots. “They were terrorists who came into a crowded lot of people and opened fire.”
4:45 p.m.: Family remembers security guard killed in shooting
Amos Ramon Gary, 54, was serving as a security guard at Willie’s Bar and Grill when the deadly gunfire rang out around 1 a.m. Sunday.
Several survivors of the shooting said they saw him trying to protect others until the very end, according to his family.
“(Amos) was a gentle giant,” said his brother Johnny Williams. “He was a big guy. He was very funny. He always liked to make people laugh. He always had jokes. He was very family oriented. He cared about family.”
4:35 p.m.: Police continue to investigate
A relative of two of the victims provided correct spellings of their names. They are Chiraad “Roddi” Smalls, not “Sherrod,” as previously reported by the coroner, and Kashawn “KK” Smalls-Glaze.
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office is still investigating the mass shooting incident and had no major updates Monday afternoon. When asked if there was an ongoing threat to the community, Lt. Daniel Allen of the sheriff’s department said “this incident is over. But it’s an active and ongoing investigation.”
The coroner’s office was also unable to provide information about bullets, guns or number of weapons Monday afternoon.
An obituary was released Monday for one of the deceased victims: A’shan’tek “Booda” Danielle Milledge, 22, of Burton. Born Dec. 15, 2002, Milledge was the mother of two children, Princeton Hush and Promise Milledge. She was the daughter of Shandell Nicole Milledge, the granddaughter of Bessie “Spoon” Singleton Milledge Byerson, the late Oneil Milledge and the late Jacob Byerson, and the “daughter”/niece of Ateka Milledge.
In the obituary, the family asked for prayers as they prepare to remember “their beloved A’shan’tek.”
The sheriff’s office said many members of the community have come forward with information about the shooting. Anonymous tips can be submitted to Crime Stoppers of Beaufort County via the P3 Tips app, online at tipsbft.com or by calling 844-847-7238.
12:15 p.m. update
People who knew the victims gathered outside Willie’s Bar and Grill on Monday morning. Some were overcome with emotion as they looked at the makeshift flowers.
On Sunday around 9 a.m., the sheriff’s office said that victims were taken to “area hospitals” following the incident. Emma June Grosskopf, media relations manager for Beaufort Memorial Hospital, was unable to confirm if any victims had been taken to the hospital on Monday.
“As far as confirming hospital admissions, conditions or release of patient information, we are only able to disclose the condition of an individual if the request includes the individual’s full name and the patient is not considered confidential,” Grosskopf said.
11:40 a.m.: Coroner names victims
The four victims of the mass shooting event on St. Helena Island early Sunday morning were identified by the Beaufort County Coroner Monday morning.
The victims were identified as Amos Gary, a 54-year old man from St. Helena; A’shan’tek Milledge, a 22-year old woman from Burton; Sherrod Smalls, a 33-year-old man from Beaufort; and Kashawn Glaze, a 22-year old man from Beaufort.
10 a.m. update
Christopher Gibbs of the Beaufort-based Gibbs Law Firm, LLC said his office would offer a one-time $10,000 reward to anyone whose “credible information” led to the arrest of one or multiple suspects in the shooting. The offer stands until 2:30 p.m. Monday.
In honor of the victims, community members on Sunday set up a memorial of candles and dozens of pink and red roses under an awning in the parking lot of Willie’s Bar and Grill, a small venue on St. Helena Island where the mass shooting took place. The tabletop had a purple covering and heat lamps were trained on the flowers.
9:30 a.m.: Death toll remains at 4
The shooting’s death toll remained at four people as of Monday morning, according to staff at the Beaufort County Coroner’s Office.
All four of those victims were pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Officials had not yet released the names of the deceased.
Henry Wright, a cook at Willie’s Bar and Grill, told the Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette one of the victims was a “little girl,” maybe around 17 years old.
The bar’s owner, Willie Turral, told The Post and Courier that another of the deceased had been working security at the venue at the time of the shooting.
The shooting, Wright said, occurred outside the bar. It sent everybody inside running out the back door. One person who died was found at the bar’s front steps, he said. Two more victims who died fell on the ground in front of the establishment. A fourth was found deceased by a tree on the property, he said.
Willie’s is located in a neighborhood known locally as “Frogmore,” the commercial hub of St. Helena Island between Beaufort and Hunting Island State Park. The area is known for shops, restaurants and the historic Penn Center, the site of the first school for formerly enslaved people in the southern U.S. that today focuses on education and cultural development.
This story was originally published October 13, 2025 at 10:13 AM.
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