Teens charged after allegedly firing guns near Bluffton Target
Two teenagers were arrested for allegedly firing guns near a heavily populated area in Bluffton early Tuesday morning, according to police.
The two 18-year-olds, one from Bluffton and the other from Hilton Head Island, were charged Tuesday with aggravated breach of peace, a misdemeanor, jail records show.
Beaufort County deputies received a gunfire call near Bluffton Parkway around 3:30 a.m. Tuesday, with a corporal in the area reporting hearing the “active firing of weapons,” according to a sheriff’s office incident report.
The corporal then allegedly saw a male firing a gun toward the woods behind the Target store. In that area, he found a blue truck with one teen in the driver’s seat and another allegedly “attempting to hide in the passenger seat,” the report says.
Police allegedly found an AR-style rifle and a pistol inside the truck, according to the police report.
One of the teens initially told police he was going to the gym when he heard gunshots, the police report said. But he allegedly confessed that he and his “buddy” were responsible for the gunfire after the deputy said he would check local cameras and test the teens for gunshot residue.
The two friends were “living in the moment and shooting off their guns,” one of the teens was quoted saying in the report. He allegedly did not tell police what direction they had been firing.
Noting the teens were allegedly firing guns “with due disregard to the public’s safety” near the Bluestone Apartments and several businesses, deputies took them to the Beaufort County jail. Aggravated breach of peace is a misdemeanor that involves a “violation of public order,” often gunfire, and depends on the nearness of other people, according to a South Carolina Supreme Court opinion.
Beaufort County considers new gunfire law
The arrests come as county lawmakers consider an ordinance prohibiting gunfire within 500 feet of any homes, buildings and parks, spurred by residents’ reports of stray bullets striking homes and whizzing past neighborhoods. Violations of the proposed ordinance could result in fines of up to $500 or a maximum of 30 days in jail.
Discharging weapons in local cities and towns is already illegal — but not in the rural pockets of Beaufort County, where residential developments are moving closer to undeveloped areas.
The county council postponed a vote on the ordinance earlier this month, electing to consult with local law enforcement and solicitors to determine how it could be enforced.
County council members, including David Bartholomew and Logan Cunningham have opposed the ordinance, have argued that it might infringe on second-amendment rights and that shooting into a building is already a felony in South Carolina.
“I sincerely do not want to put something on the books that is a ‘feel good’ to try to solve the problem that ultimately curbs law-abiding citizens from exercising their right to use their firearms on their property,” Bartholomew said in February.
The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette do not publish the names of individuals who were charged with misdemeanor crimes unless the accused is a public figure or if revealing their name is a matter of public interest.
