20 people struck by single lightning bolt at South Carolina beach
Twenty people were struck by the lightning bolt near the Lake Murray dam in Lexington County, outside the state capital of Columbia, county spokesperson Vanessa Diaz told USA TODAY on June 25.
Twelve people visited local hospitals for treatment while six others were assessed by first responders at the scene, Diaz said. All injuries were considered non-life-threatening.
No deaths were reported in connection to the strike, which came during National Lightning Safety Awareness week.
Officials received a call around 5 p.m. for an electrocution, Diaz said, adding it was a "bright and sunny at the lake, with clouds nearby but not overhead."
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The patients' ages were not immediately known, but 12 of the victims were children, Diaz said.
"The bolt of lightning that hit the water energized a metal cable with buoys on it that surrounds the swimming area," Diaz said. "Several people had swam out to the buoys and were holding onto the cable when it hit, and others were nearby swimming. Everybody got quite a jolt, we're so fortunate that injuries were not worse than they were."
Agencies responding to the scene included Lexington County Fire, Irmo Fire, Lexington County EMS and Lexington County Sheriff's Department.
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As previously reported by USA TODDAY, here are four ways people are struck by lightning:
Conduction: This is the cause of most indoor lightning deaths and injuries. Lightning travels through wires and other metal surfaces
Direct strike: The person becomes a part of the main discharge channel, usually when outside in an open area.
Side flash: Lightning strikes a tall object and part of the current jumps from the object to the victim − for example, when a person is struck while standing under a tree.
Ground current: Lightning enters the body at the point closest to a strike, travels through the body and leaves at the contact point farthest away from the initial strike. This causes most deaths and injuries.
A fully enclosed car or truck can be an option of last resort, but don't touch the steering wheel, radio or ignition.
Choose the closest large, enclosed space with plumbing and electrical wiring.
Don't shelter in unprotected open buildings, such as metal sheds, picnic pavilions, baseball dugouts and porches.
If a shelter isn't available, keep moving to search for a safe place. Don't lie down or crouch on the ground. Avoid trees, light poles, metal fences and bleachers.
Contributing: Dinah Voyles Pulver with USA TODAY, and Nina Tran with the Greenville News
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Lightning strike hits 20 people at South Carolina beach: Officials
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All the writers of these other books are like... It was in between the lines victim shaming. One even admits in the second chapter of a bestseller, I'm not going to name the name, but it offended me. The writer writes, "Well, I've never been conned, and I don't know any artist personally." And I'm like, well, la-di-da for you. Well, let me tell you, and I write this in the book, here's some news from the front lines. Con artists are everywhere. And the only reason you don't know a con artist is a con artist is because they haven't conned you yet, but they're probably conning other people you know. It's embarrassing to admit you fell for a con. And they use another red flag I write about, the TMI technique. You meet a con artist, they tell you a lot of personal details about themselves very quickly. They tell you their deep, dark secrets for two reasons. Number one, it makes you think, ah, this person must really trust me. And then number two, you think, well, I can trust them. 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And there's the inclination to believe they must be correct. They got the uniform, they got the badge. They must know what they're talking about, but they don't. The thing of it is law enforcement is overwhelmed. They have murders, and robberies, and rapes to deal with. They have people lying in pools of blood calling on them to help. So when you come in crying, "Boohoo, I got conned," your case is relegated, nine out of 10 times they will not take a police report. And they send you on your way and say, "Go pursue this. Go hire a lawyer and sue them. Go to the civil court system." But listen, anything, in most states, over a thousand dollars taken based on lies or deceit is a felony. It is a crime punishable by years in jail. You just can't go to police willy-nilly. You got to build a case. You have to go in there with a narrative, with an affidavit, with witness statements, with tons of evidence, that you have to pull a Vanna White, and present the evidence, and tell the story. You have to be prepared. You have to be rehearsed. You can't just be boohoo, because they will turn you away. They turned me away, but I pushed back. And in the book, I show victims how to push. Taylor Wilson: Back. Well, I am not going to ask you to give away all the red flags that you outline in this book, but can you share a couple with our listeners? What major ones that you want to outline here? Jonathan Walton: I would say the top three red flags... Now, individually, each red flag doesn't mean you're dealing with a con artist necessarily, but when they start to add up, two, three, four red flags, be suspicious and consider cutting ties. Red flag number one, by far. Every con artist will enter your life, most likely offering to help you. Who doesn't love a helper? Right? A stranger, a new neighbor, a new boyfriend, new girlfriend, new co-worker. They show up. They quickly figure out what your problem is, and they offer to help you. So you're naturally going to be grateful. You're naturally going to love them. You're naturally going to let them in your life. Who doesn't love a helper? So be suspicious. Red flag number two, stories from faraway places. Every professional con artist today will snow you with stories from faraway places. Why? Because it gives them credentials. It gives them legitimacy. And stories from faraway places are hard to prove false. So human nature being what it is, if you can't prove something false, you just think it must be true. Another huge red flag, I call it in the book, drama, drama, drama. You meet someone who turns out to be a con artist, but you don't know. So they got you. They're helping you. They're too kind, too quick. They're snowing you with stories from faraway places. Keep in mind, these people are infinitely charismatic. They're fun to be with. They're lovable. They seem so kind. They're very educated, and that's what they want. But then the drama starts, right? If you've got any drama in your life, they will create more drama. And it's all lies. If you've got a boyfriend you're trying to avoid, they'll say, "Hey, I saw your boyfriend outside your house. He was parked outside your house." That's not true, but if you are the woman or the man scared of the boyfriend outside your house, you immediately like, "Oh my God, I need help." And once you have that kind of reaction to drama, you're so much more easy to manipulate. Because when you're not thinking with your head, thinking with your heart, or worse, you're thinking out of fear, con artists don't outsmart you, they out feel you. And fear is a heck of a feeling and makes you very malleable. So yeah, those are, I would say the top three red flags con artists use to trick money out of their marks. Taylor Wilson: Well, for folks who maybe have missed some of those early red flags, what advice would you give for people in the midst of their own artists nightmares? Who should they turn to? What should maybe their first steps be? Jonathan Walton: If the money has exchanged hands, that's the crime. If you are in the midst of a con... And again, I have this fantasy frequently. Knowing what I know now, if I met Mayer, my con artist, would I know she's a con artist? And the answer is, yeah, within the first 20 minutes of talking to her. Because she was just waving all the flags, the stories from faraway places, the offer to help, the too kind too quick, the drama, drama, drama. She was waving them all. I would've spotted her quickly. If you are in the midst of a con and the con artist doesn't know that you know, start recording the phone calls, start getting video and audio, start gathering your evidence. Because you need that for police. When you go to police, the minute the con artist is outed, and mine did this to me, they all flip the script. They all make authorities think initially, you are the bad person, they're the good person. You are the one victimizing them. A month before the criminal trial of my con artist, and this is how brilliant she is, hats off. I'm a producer here in LA. I admire her creativity. As sickening as it is, she is a brilliant creative woman. So I've been pursuing this case for two years, and finally I'm going to have my day in court. A month before the trial, she files a restraining order against me. And I only find out about it because I got a lawyer's advertisement in the mail. This restraining order was not served. And if it's not served, it doesn't exist yet, but it's coming. And luckily I got the ad in the mail. I'm like, "Restraining order?" And I look it up online and I'm like, oh my God, she filed a restraining order. So I bring it to the prosecutor thinking he's going to help me. The prosecutor who's charged her with stealing from me, with grand theft. And he says, "There's nothing I can do." He says, "If a judge approves this restraining order, you will not be allowed in the courtroom." And I just turned white. I'm like, this is her checkmate move. He's like, "But don't worry. We can let you testify over video." I'm like, "well, what's a jury going to think? I'm too violent for the courtroom, so I'm doing testimony over video?" Like, "My case is sunk. This doesn't help my case." He's like, "Yeah, it really doesn't. This is a problem, but there's nothing I can do. This is a civil matter." So I hire a lawyer and the lawyer tells me, "Just don't get served." And I'm like, "What do you mean?" He's like, "Do you have a back way in?" I'm like, "I'm a gay guy. Of course I have a back way in." He's like, "Just don't get served." So I don't answer the door. I come and go through the back way. And sure enough, just like he predicted, off-duty deputies in uniform pounding on my door at all hours trying to serve me this bogus restraining order. But thankfully, the time ran out. The trial started, I hadn't been served the restraining order so I got to testify in court. And she was convicted and sentenced to five years in jail before she could file that bogus restraining order before a judge could approve it. But listen, nine times out of 10 when there's a woman filing a restraining order against a man, it's a no-brainer for a judge. He just approves it. That was a brilliant move on her part, but thank God I figured out a way out of it. Taylor Wilson: Wow. Well, years later, Jonathan, this might be a difficult question, but I'm just curious how you think and feel about this case looking back, and do you forgive Mayer at all years later? Jonathan Walton: I do forgive... You see, here's the thing. And I know you're going to think I'm crazy, but I've investigated a lot of these cases and this is how I feel. These aren't people as we understand people to be. I've spent a lot of time interviewing an FBI criminal profiler, Candice DeLong, amazing woman. And she confirmed, most con artists, if not all, are psychopaths. They're not like us. They don't have any feeling. They will destroy your life, walk away, and destroy another life, and destroy... They don't care. They don't care. Mayer, my con artists used her own children in her scams. She pretended to have cancer for myriad reasons. When she was in high school, I heard from a guy she dated in high school, she would date college guys, and tell them she was pregnant, and needed money for an abortion. And they all gave her money. Artists aren't people as you understand people to be. So I haven't really forgiven her because I don't even consider her a person. I've forgiven myself. I get why this all happened. It was meant to make me better, and it was meant, I believe, to help me shine a light on them so the world can see, and hopefully save untold numbers of people from getting conned. I don't hate her. She's like a shark. You can't hate a shark for moving through the water and eating whatever it sees. That's what they were built to do. Con artists were built to scam anyone and everyone, so the quicker you can identify them, the quicker you can just get out of their way so they can go onto the next. Taylor Wilson: Jonathan, it was a fascinating read. Thanks for hopping on. Jonathan Walton: Thanks so much for reading it. I appreciate that. Taylor Wilson: Thanks to our senior producers, Shannon Rae Green and Kaely Monahan for their production assistance. Our executive producer is Laura Beatty. Let us know what you think of this episode by sending a note to podcasts@ Thanks for listening. I'm Taylor Wilson. I'll be back tomorrow morning with another episode of USA TODAY's The Excerpt.
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