Beaufort Sheriff will update on St. Helena shooting investigation Friday
Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner will provide updates Friday morning about the weekslong investigation into the mass shooting that killed four people on St. Helena Island.
The press conference will be held 11 a.m. at the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office headquarters on Bay Street, the department said.
It was not immediately clear what would be shared in the press conference, which would be the second held by authorities since the shooting on Oct. 12.
Since the week of the shooting, Beaufort County police have been awaiting the results of firearm and bullet analysis from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division. Investigators are also receiving assistance from the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Four people were killed and 16 others shot when gunfire erupted outside Willie’s Bar and Grill during an alumni event after 1 a.m., just before last call.
Police believed multiple shooters in the parking lot had been involved in a gunfight, which was fueled by an “ongoing feud,” Tanner said in the first press conference held three days after the shooting.
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; Chiraad “Roddi” Smalls, a 33-year-old man from Beaufort; and Kashawn “KK” Smalls-Glaze, a 22-year-old man from Beaufort.
Witnesses described hearing “rapid-fire” gunshots that sent hundreds of patrons running for their lives into nearby homes and businesses.
Tanner would not confirm the type of weapons used in the shooting but criticized what he saw as “ridiculous” low bonds granted to suspects in machine gun possession cases.
The sheriff said police were hard-pressed to find witnesses with valuable information about the perpetrators.
“We had 700 people at this party, and we have yet to get a witness that can tell us who the shooters are,” Tanner told reporters.
