‘Make the kids look bad': Mom of Ocean Boulevard shooting victim, civil rights advocate want more answers about what happened

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a day ago

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — The mother of a victim in April's officer-involved shooting on Ocean Boulevard and a civil rights leader say they are not satisfied with the Myrtle Beach Police Department's briefing and dashcam footage of the incident released on Thursday.
Myrtle Beach Police Chief Amy Prock said in a recorded briefing Thursday afternoon that Officer Brandon O'Rourke shot and killed 18-year-old Jerrius Davis of Bennettsville, after Davis shot into a crowd on the boulevard on April 26.
O'Rourke and two other officers who witnessed the shooting are all back at work after being on paid leave during the investigation. Eleven people were hurt in the shooting.
Kendra Malloy, the mother of Serenity Chavis, who was one of the victims, said the dashcam footage that shows Davis shooting into a crowd and officers returning fire as he runs away is 'weak.' Malloy said she wants to see officers' body camera footage of the incident because the dashcam footage does not show the whole story.
John Barnett, a civil-rights activist, said the footage released Thursday does not give the victims or their families any closure or justice.
'We want to know: Who are all the victims on April 26?' Barnett said. 'What are you all doing to resolve this issue? What are you doing to put a Band-Aid on this open wound? What are you doing in reference to counseling? What are you doing in reference to the investigation? Releasing excerpts of videos is just not enough.'
Malloy and Barnett also said they do not think an incident at September football game in Laurinburg led to the shooting, like Prock said Thursday in the YouTube video released by the department. The Scotland County School district said Friday officers there were not aware of any incident during a game against neighboring Marlboro County.
In the video, Prock said many events led up to the shooting, begnning with a 'heated exchange' during the football game.
'It's to, kind of, make the kids look bad,' Malloy said. 'There's no relation to a last year incident that has nothing to do with kids having a good time at Myrtle Beach.'
Barnett also pushed back against police.
'They wanted to make sure that they get the heat off of the officers,' Barnett said. 'It's imperative we create a narrative that the police was not fully responsible for the shootings that happened on April 26.'
Prock said three people have been arrested so far, including two juveniles, in the events connected to the Ocean Blvd shooting. She also said the 11 shooting victims, ages 13 to 43, had gunshot-related injuries and have all been released from the hospital.
However, Barnett said the three victims he has spoken to are still in physical pain, still need counseling, and still need their voices heard.
'Treat our 11 victims of the April 26 shooting as if they were Hunter Biden, as if they were Donald Trump's children, as if they were someone who we all know and love,' he said.
Barnett hopes to meet with Prock and Myrtle Beach Mayor Brenda Bethune next week.
For a timeline of the events authorities say led up to the boulevard shooting and to listen to Chief Prock's full statement, click here.
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Skylar Musick is a multimedia journalist at News13. Skylar is originally from Long Island, New York. She joined the News13 team in June 2024 after graduating from Villanova University in May 2024. Follow Skylar on X, formerly Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, and read more of her work here.
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