Memorial Day weekend shooting leaves 11 injured near North Myrtle Beach as police hunt suspects
The Horry County Police Department described the shooting as an isolated incident stemming from an altercation on a charter boat during a private Memorial Day gathering. There were about 124 people onboard the boat, including four crew members, when the shooting occurred, Horry County police said during a Tuesday press conference.
Three victims are still hospitalized while eight have been released, authorities said during the press conference.
"This type of violence will not be tolerated in Horry County," HCPD Chief Kris Leonhardt said. "We are going to do our very best to investigate this case and bring criminal charges against these folks that have caused this incident here in our county."
Mass Shooting Investigation Underway In South Carolina As Victims Flood Local Hospitals
Horry County Fire Department Chief Joseph Tanner said authorities initially got a call around 9:15 p.m. reporting an injury and responded accordingly. Upon arrival, officials located multiple gunshot-wounded victims.
Read On The Fox News App
The charter boat party attendees were from out of town, Leonhardt said, making it more difficult to track down witnesses.
A total of 10 victims sustained gunshot wounds and another person reported an unknown injury not related to gunfire, the police department said in a Monday press release. Some victims were recovered from the water, the North Myrtle Beach Police Department (NMBPD) said in a separate press release.
"Of those, the worst of the injured are in critical but stable condition at area hospitals," Horry County police said in a press release.
Southern Vacation Hot Spot Fires Back At Poor Safety Rating Following Shooting: 'Fake News'
Videos and photos posted to social media on Sunday evening showed a heavy police presence in the area of the Dolphin Cruise parking lot in Little River, located north of North Myrtle Beach.
NMBPD also said the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) is investigating a separate incident involving a responding North Myrtle Beach officer who was injured with his own firearm near the Harbourgate Marina in North Myrtle Beach.
"A NMBPD Officer was entering a gate to the dock when his rifle discharged twice, with one of the rounds striking his leg," the department said in its press release. "At the time of the discharge, the Officer had both of his hands on the gate, which was confirmed by later video evidence. Due to the Officer not attempting to utilize his weapon at the time, all Officers on scene believed that shots were being fired from the marina area."
The officer was transported to a local hospital, where he underwent surgery for his injuries.
Mass Shooting In Myrtle Beach Tourist Hotspot Leaves 1 Dead, 11 Wounded
Video footage obtained from a witness apparently shows the incident, and authorities determined that "the discharge was from the wounded Officer's rifle," and the scene was released to SLED.
Horry County police said the shooting remains under investigation, and "there is currently no associated risk to the community."
Crime concerns in and around Myrtle Beach have been heightened since April 26, when a shooting in the Myrtle Beach entertainment district left the shooter dead and 11 victims injured. Myrtle Beach officials described the shooting as an isolated incident at the time.
Authorities are asking anyone with information about the shooting to contact the Horry County PD Crime Tip Line at 843-915-8477.Original article source: Memorial Day weekend shooting leaves 11 injured near North Myrtle Beach as police hunt suspects
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Lansing schools made security upgrades over the summer. Here's what's new
LANSING — The metal detectors that moved into Dwight Rich School of the Arts late last school year will still be around when students return on Wednesday, Aug. 20. And a 'secure vestibule,' which prevents parents, volunteers and strangers from freely entering the school's hallways, also is being built at the K-8 building in southwest Lansing. Secure vestibules were built over the summer and are ready to be used at Attwood New Tech Magnet School, which serves elementary and middle school grades, and Lyons School and Forest View Elementary School, two elementary buildings. The vestibules are just one of the school safety features, planned long ago, that will greet students and parents this school year, district officials said. There also is fencing around the elementary- and middle-grade buildings, damage-resistant film on windows, and camera upgrades and installations, said Kristina Sleight, chief operating officer of the Lansing School District. 'We're happy to have them in the schools,' she said of returning students. 'We hope that they feel as safe and secure as we know that they are. We appreciate parents' feedback when we're looking to do these types of projects at our schools. We're just excited to see our kiddos.' Lansing School District officials placed metal detectors and handheld wands at Dwight Rich after a gun was found on campus the Thursday before the long Memorial Day weekend. Metal detectors were already at the high school buildings including Everett High School, where a teenager was found with a gun after officers responded to a fight call at the school on May 27. Paul Elam, chief strategy officer at the Okemos-based Michigan Public Health Institute and a leader in the development and operation of Advance Peace Lansing, estimated, based on conversations he has had with Lansing teens, that there's over 100 guns owned by or easily accessible to children and teenagers in the city. 'Children as young as 12 have access to these weapons,' he said earlier this year. 'Guns are everywhere. ... There's not a kid we talk to who doesn't know someone who has a gun, doesn't know someone who's been shot or been shot at or doesn't think guns are easy to acquire.' Sleight said the district annually spends about $1 million on safety improvements. 'There are additional funds that are being made available to school districts to upgrade security features,' she said. 'We've been taking advantage of applying for grants and getting additional funding to update our school facilities. 'We want everybody to feel as safe as we know that they are in our care, so we want to make sure we do have those extra layers of security for our students and for our staff members.' Sleight said the district is 95% done with fencing the appropriate schools, and that two-thirds of the schools now have secure vestibules. Dwight Rich should have its secure vestibule by the second semester. Visitors would get buzzed into the secure vestibule from the outside and then get buzzed into the office for checks before entering the rest of the building. 'Student and staff safety remains our top priority,' school board President Robin Moore said in a statement. 'The addition of cameras, fencing, window film, and secure vestibules reflects the district's ongoing commitment to protecting the well-being of the LSD community.' The district continues to work on drafting a comprehensive safety plan. 'There's currently an audit being done at every single school in conjunction with principals, our public safety department and our district leadership,' Sleight said. Contact editor Susan Vela at svela@ or 248-873-7044. Follow her on Twitter @susanvela. This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Lansing school safety improvements include cameras, secure vestibules Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Yahoo
My Cousin And I Exchanged Thousands Of Texts Before She Died — But I Never Asked The 1 Question I Should Have
I lived in fear of my cousin Tarlie's death for more than seven years. When the text arrived from my aunt, Tarlie's mom, my husband and I had put our children to bed and were sitting outside on our patio. 'She just passed. It was peaceful and her dad and I were both at her bedside when it happened.' Tarlie died on Memorial Day, shortly after her 31st birthday. When she was 23, she was diagnosed with a form of melanoma so aggressive but benign looking that three dermatologists were fooled by its appearance, and by the time it was recognized, it was too late. Melanoma spreads through the bloodstream and lymph nodes, moving so painlessly and invisibly that it can metastasize for a long time before anyone knows. Related: As I read my aunt's text, a rush of hot, electric energy ran through me. I felt my consciousness rise out of my body and then crash back down. I cried while clutching my heart as if it might fall out and shatter. I remembered how much Tarlie wanted to live for her parents and herself. She told me her two big fears were her own suffering before death and the suffering of her mother and father. 'Odds are I will die in the coming year of a long, excruciating death, leaving two miserable parents behind,' she had texted. As I sat outside in the dimming summer light, alive in the world that no longer held my beloved cousin, I wept and agonized over how to respond to my aunt. 'Crying for your loss and Uncle Jim's,' I wrote. 'You're such an amazing mom. Thank you for raising such an incredible human being. I love her so much and will all my life.' It was fitting Aunt Lisa's and my first words together after Tarlie's death were via text messages. In the years after her diagnosis, Tarlie and I sent each other more than 850 pages of texts. Our phone calls often lasted up to two hours, which was a time commitment we couldn't always make, but we could text from anywhere at any time. We texted when Tarlie found an unusual lump on her stomach while traveling with her mom in Madagascar, more than four years after her initial diagnosis. We texted a few weeks later after a doctor told her the melanoma had advanced to stage IV, the final stage. We texted as she waited in an airport security line a few days later, flying from her home in New York City to her Indiana hometown to tell her parents in person. Later, we texted as she lay in a hospital bed struggling to breathe through the side effects of immunotherapy, waiting to see if she'd need to be intubated. 'If I die, I want to just die and not know it,' she wrote before pulling through that particular time. But even though Tarlie and I talked frequently about her potentially dying young, I sometimes felt like a hypocrite. Intellectually, I knew she could die. She had asked me to sit on the phone with her several times while she opened terrifying test results. I understood the realities of her prognosis. Related: Still, I chose to believe she would live. I loved her so much that I knew I could never prepare for the pain of losing her. When I was a child, I prayed I would never outlive any of my siblings, and I loved Tarlie like a sister. If she died, my first great fear would come true. I also worried it would kill her parents. Tarlie is Aunt Lisa's only child and the love of her life. Because I chose to believe Tarlie would live, I never asked her the questions that scared me the most: What did she want me to do if the cancer killed her? What kind of responsibilities would she ask me to fulfill for her? What would she want me to do to support her parents? The day after Tarlie died, Aunt Lisa asked me to come back to Indiana for a small service. Tarlie chose to have her remains composted — turning her body into rich soil, reimagining her place in the world she loved so much — so she would be in Seattle with a green funeral home by the time I arrived. But her parents and many of her closest loved ones would be in her childhood home. 'I know it's last minute, so I understand if you can't come,' Aunt Lisa said. 'I'm coming,' I told her. 'Good,' she replied as we both began to cry. 'Good.' Technically, Aunt Lisa and I aren't related by blood. Tarlie and I are related through our fathers, who are brothers. But Tarlie and I loved each other as cousin-sisters. In some photos, Tarlie, my sisters and I look like full siblings, with our dark brown eyes and broad foreheads. What, then, does that make her mother to me? I flew into Indianapolis that weekend. My family had visited my aunt and uncle's house when we were children, but I hadn't been back in more than 20 years. In my mind, Tarlie's Barbie electric car would still be waiting for her in the long driveway. The leather armchair in the living room would still be cartoonishly large. Tarlie would be in her pink bedroom. 'I'm here, love,' I whispered. 'I'm coming to be with your mom and dad and partner and we're going to love on you.' The Midwestern sky was broad over the flat land as I drove an hour on the interstate from the airport to Aunt Lisa's house. I thought about my cousin under that big sky and the bright sun pouring down on her, helping her grow up to be brilliant and kind, while also invisibly sowing the seeds of cancer on her cheek. I arrived at the house already crying. Aunt Lisa emerged from around the path of the house to the deck. In some ways, Tarlie's fears had come to pass. She had suffered uncontrollable pain before she died, and her death devastated her parents. But her mother and I were still here, hugging in front of the house where Tarlie grew up and spent some of her last days. Tarlie's memory was alive inside us both, beyond even the reach of DNA and death. Related: The memorial service was scheduled for Saturday afternoon. That morning, Aunt Lisa and I curled up across from each other on the leather couch where Tarlie sat so many times. I told her a lesson I had learned from another bereaved parent: When a child dies, many people will avoid mentioning them for fear of hurting the parents. But often, their child is all the parents want to talk about. 'You can call me any time,' I said. 'I'll always want to talk about Tarlie.' As we moved through the day, I kept waiting to hear Tarlie's laugh from the next room. In her house, time felt like a thin veil. I wanted to reach through it and pull her back to us. Before the other visitors began to arrive, I went upstairs to the guest room, changed into a black dress and wrote down notes for the remarks I wanted to give at the memorial. As I was walking back down the hallway, Aunt Lisa peeked her head out of her bedroom door. 'Could you help me with something?' she asked. 'I'm trying to figure out what to wear. Tarlie was my fashion adviser.' It was a sacred request. During our family visits as a child, I never went in my aunt and uncle's bedroom. It was too private, too full of personal, fragile things. Now I was standing in Aunt Lisa's closet, looking up at a painting of Tarlie with a purple flower behind her ear and wishing she were here. In another universe, Tarlie would be the one standing where I was. Aunt Lisa would be helping her dress for the wedding she would never have, the baby shower that would never be thrown. Mother and daughter in their sanctum. 'I want to wear these pants.' Aunt Lisa pointed to the loose navy pair she had on. 'They're very comfortable, but I'm not sure about the shirt. How about this gray one?' 'Something isn't totally working,' I said. 'The colors are kind of clashing.' 'What about this dress?' She moved to another row in her closet and grabbed a hanger. 'Can you zip me up?' As she pulled the dress over her head, I realized there are only a few other people whom I have helped zip into dresses. As a child, my mother in her loose, floral dresses for church. As an adult, my own daughter. A handful of close friends. And now Aunt Lisa. 'I think it's a little too loose. It's losing your waist a bit,' I said. 'I don't think I have a waist anymore.' We both laughed. Then Aunt Lisa took down a dark navy bubble dress with a pattern of white flecks. 'What about this?' She put it on and stepped in front of her mirror. When she turned around and asked me what I thought, she looked more like Tarlie's mother than ever. The same bright smile, smooth nose and sense of style. A woman of extraordinary grace and power who fiercely loved her daughter into life and then beyond it. Related: It's been three years since Tarlie died. After Tarlie's body was composted, Aunt Lisa took the fertile soil to build a garden in front of her home and filled it with native plants that draw butterflies and bees to pollinate the land that raised her daughter. She lovingly tends it all year round. On what would have been Tarlie's 34th birthday, her close friends wished her a happy birthday in the WhatsApp group that Tarlie created years ago to update us on the cancer's progression. We stay in community with each other and the earth she loved. It would make her happy to know that we try to live the values that meant so much to her. I never asked Tarlie what she wanted me to do if she died young. But as we texted and talked from a Madagascar hotel to a New York hospital bed, she was teaching herself and me how to live with the despair and hope of an uncertain future. To be afraid of the pain but remain present with the ones we love. To be overwhelmed by a mixture of agonizing grief and boundless gratitude for that miraculous love. To keep showing up for the ones left behind. To live in ways that honor the courage and compassion Tarlie brought to the world. Virgie Townsend is the award-winning author of the short story collection 'Because We Were Christian Girls,' inspired by her own experiences growing up and leaving Christian fundamentalism. She has written for The New York Times, Washington Post, The Sun Magazine, Harper's Bazaar and other outlets. You can find her online at Do you have a compelling personal story you'd like to see published on HuffPost? Find out what we're looking for here and send us a pitch at pitch@ Related... My Husband Died Abroad. As I Boarded The Plane Home, A Flight Attendant's Innocent Comment Broke Me. After My Wife Died, I Found A 4-Word Text Message In Her Phone That Hit Me Like A Sledgehammer I Was Devastated When The Love Of My Life Died. Then I Started Seeing Signs I Couldn't the daily Crossword
Miami Herald
12-08-2025
- Miami Herald
Federal grand jury charges Florida Keys boat captain in a 2022 parasailing death
A federal grand jury charged a Florida Keys boat captain with the death of an Illinois woman who was killed after the parasail she and two children were attached to slammed into the Old Seven Mile Bridge on Memorial Day in 2022. The U.S. Attorney's Office charged 52-year-old Daniel Couch with one count of seaman's manslaughter following the Aug. 7 indictment. The charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison if convicted. Couch was at the helm of a 31-foot boat owned by Lighthouse Parasail out of the Middle Keys city of Marathon, towing Supraja Alaparthi, 33, her 10-year-old son and her 9-year old nephew, who were tethered to a parasail harness several feet in the air behind the vessel around 5 p.m. May 30, 2022. READ MORE: Family of mom whose parasail hit Florida Keys' Old Seven Mile Bridge takes new action A strong storm gust snagged the parasail making it difficult for Couch and his mate to lower Alaparthi and the children, investigators say. The 'pegged' parasail also risked dragging the boat, investigators said. It was Couch's next move that proved fatal and landed him in trouble with the law. Instead of steering the boat side to side and employing other options in which experts say were appropriate to lessen the wind underneath the parasail, Couch took a knife and cut the cable that attached the boat to the harness. He thought the move would cause Alaparthi and the boys to drop to the ocean surface so he could pick them up. Instead, the wind dragged the parasail with the family in tow for miles before they crashed into the iconic span that connects Knights Key in Marathon with Little Duck Key in the Lower Keys. READ MORE: Captain cut parasailing cable before mom and kids slammed into Keys bridge, police say Alaparthi was pronounced dead at a nearby restaurant that rescuers used as a staging area. Her son suffered minor injuries, and her nephew was seriously injured. Florida Fish and Wlidlife Conservation Commission investigators said Couch did not maneuver his boat under the bridge to try to release the family after they hit the span and were trapped in the parasail. Instead, a flats fishing guide who watched the situation unfold sped his boat to the bridge to rescue the woman and children. His two charter passengers performed CPR on Alaparthi and the seriously injured child as the guide took them to paramedics waiting at the restaurant. READ MORE: Boat driver charged in deadly parasailing crash into a Florida Keys bridge The Monroe County State Attorney's Office charged Couch with manslaughter in September 2022. Though he has pleaded not guilty, that case is still pending, said Chief Assistant State Attorney Joseph Mansfield. In the FWC report that led to the state charge, invistigators noted the National Weather Service forecasted high winds, heavy rains and thunderstorms just before Couch took the family out on the water that day. It was not immediately known Monday whether Couch was in custody. Information about his legal representation in the federal case was not immediately available.
