Police determine shooting outside Myrtle Beach gentleman’s club accidental

A shooting that happened outside a Myrtle Beach gentleman’s club on Wednesday was ruled an accident by police, authorities said.

Christopher John Clarida, 24, was charged with unlawfully carrying a weapon after the gun he had was discharged by accident, injuring a 23-year-old victim, police said.

Authorities first responded to the incident about 4:30 a.m. when a man entered Grand Strand Regional Medical Center with a gunshot wound, according to the report.

After investigating the incident, officers said the man was shot outside Derriere’s gentleman’s club at 804 Seaboard Street.

Clarida told police that he and the victim, along with two others, drove to Derriere’s gentleman’s club from Broadway at the Beach. He initially told officers that a man came up to him and the victim while they were parked outside the club and put his hand in their car while holding a gun, according to a police report.

Clarida said he grabbed the man’s arm and pulled it in the car and then the man shot the victim, police said.

Officers determined that Clarida was the shooter and placed him under arrest, but an investigation later showed that the shooting was an accident, so Clarida was not charged with assault, authorities said.

This story was originally published March 21, 2015 at 9:08 AM.