No teens after 8 PM: Hilton Head Island to explore juvenile curfew after shooting
Law enforcement officials are asking the Town of Hilton Head Island to enact an 8 p.m. juvenile curfew in response to concerns about large teen gatherings during the summer months.
The proposal comes after a July 4 shooting on Coligny Beach injured eight people and sent Fourth of July crowds running for safety.
Police are still investigating the incident, but have said that incident began as an argument between two groups of teens aged 17 to 19 in the area that escalated into a fistfight. Shots were fired shortly after the first punches were thrown, Beaufort County Sheriff P.J Tanner said at a Sunday press conference.
Reports about after-hours juvenile activity causing issues in Coligny areas have been surfacing for several weeks. The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office stationed a mobile surveillance trailer near the Tiki Hut in response, which captured the entire shooting on video, Tanner said.
How the curfew would work
At a special Hilton Head Island Town Council Meeting Thursday, BCSO General Counsel Daniel Gourley asked the council to enact an 8 p.m. curfew to give law enforcement the “necessary tools” to detain, ID, send home and potentially arrest juveniles who disregard curfew.
Law enforcement officers begin to notice the activity start around 8:30 p.m. on a daily basis, hence the 8 p.m. cutoff.
“We begin our interaction, and we chase them from point A to point B to Point C throughout the night,” Gourley said.
A curfew would allow officers to arrest teens who are caught still out after being told to go home, Gourley suggested.
Parents could be charged
Parents should also be held accountable, Gourley said.
“If we can prove that the parents are knowingly and intelligently allowing these juveniles to come to the island after a certain hour, they need to held accountable as well,” Gourley said.
Municipalities in Charleston, Myrtle Beach, Columbia and Greenville all have similar curfews, Gourley said.
What’s next?
At the meeting, multiple council members shared support for the ordinance. Town Manager Marc Orlando said he’d be able to put together a curfew ordinance for council review within 30 days.
This story was originally published July 9, 2026 at 4:04 PM.
