Six individuals have been arrested by the Union County Sheriff’s Office in connection with the shooting that injured an officer near the Carolina Country Music Festival in Downtown Myrtle Beach on Saturday night.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) notified the Union County Sheriff’s Office that a vehicle matching the description of the vehicle that fled the shooting scene Saturday had been picked up by a license plate reader heading toward Union; deputies were informed to be on the lookout for the vehicle.
On Jonesville-Lockhart Highway, a deputy saw the car and conducted a felony traffic stop.
Deputies arrested Chance Kenaz Benson, 18, Tyair Malik Amir Cunningham, 21, both of Spartanburg, Wilshawn Leroy Owens, 18, of Inman, and three minors. As well as Benson, Cunningham and Owens, the three minors were taken to Columbia’s Department of Juvenile Justice.
Deputies impounded the vehicle and obtained a search warrant; marijuana was found in the backseat.
A Horry County Police Department incident report states that two Myrtle Beach Police officers and two SLED agents responded to the 13th and Chester Street area around 11:30 Saturday night on reports of suspicious persons walking in the area with firearms.
In response to law enforcement attempts to contact the subjects, the subjects ran into the parking garage and began firing numerous gunshots at them.
Several holes were found in the vehicle where the victims were seated. One victim was hit by a projectile.
Shooting suspects fled the scene.
Each of Benson, Cunningham, and Owens is being held on a warrant out of Horry County on marijuana possession charges.
The reports have not been finalized yet, and Union County investigators plan to meet up with detectives from Horry County police, according to Capt. Scott Coffer.