Seven people were injured Sunday, June 18, during a shooting near the beach in Myrtle Beach, South California. The entire incident was captured on Facebook Live by a tourist.
A firefighter named Bubba Hinson was visiting the town for the S.C. Fire-Rescue Convention. Hinson was streaming live on Facebook on a balcony at a nearby hotel when a crowd began gathering and a fight broke out. A man involved in the fight pulled out a gun and began firing, hitting several people.
Here’s what Hinson captured:
Hinson later told Myrtle Beach Online that he thought the people were dancing, so he decided to film it. “Then, they started fighting. Then, they started shooting,” he said.
According to Myrtle Beach officials, the incident happened around 12:30 a.m. near Ocean Boulevard by the coast. The shooting was reported as a group of people were blocking traffic on the boulevard. Reports say a security guard who saw the shooting shot and wounded the gunman.
The security officer was reached by a bullet, as well as other six people. “Multiple people down,” says the man narrating the video. The people were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The gunman followed to carjack a vehicle but was caught a short time later. Officials said that the man’s name will be released when charges are filed against him.
Myrtle Beach Mayor says the shootings are bad for the city’s reputation
Myrtle Beach Mayor John Rhodes said during a press conference that the Sunday shooting was damaging the city’s desired reputation as a family friendly destination.
He’s especially mad at the Facebook live video, which has been seen by more than 1 million people. “Social media today puts this word out quickly,” he said. “It does not look good for the city of Myrtle Beach.”
After Facebook marked the video as disturbing, Rhodes asked why the company wouldn’t pull out the content. A Facebook spokesperson told CBS News that “In many instances when people share this type of content, they are condemning it or raising awareness about it. However, when they are shared for sadistic pleasure or to celebrate or glorify violence, we remove them.”
Rhodes said that in most cases, shootings occur from gang activity or “drug deals went wrong,” and people involved are often weekend visitors.
However, he praised the police for responding so efficiently to the Ocean Boulevard shooting, and to stop the situation from escalating further. “We’re gonna send a message to do everything that’s humanly possible to stop this violence input city,” he said.
Myrtle Beach has seen its image compromised after five shootings took place over three days. On Saturday at 4:30 p.m., a person was injured in a shooting in the parking lot near the Cinemark at the Coastal Grand Mall. Ten minutes later, police were called to the Crown Reef Resort for a report of shots fired, but this time, no one got injured.
On Sunday night, following the Ocean Boulevard incident, officers were called to the Dunes Village Resort at 9:05 p.m. for a report of gunshots. No victims were reported.
The fifth shooting took place on Monday night at the Lazy G Motel, leaving one person injured. Police said the victim refused to cooperate with the investigation, as well as medical treatment.