Two people died late Wednesday night inside a Murphy USA gas station on Maryport Drive in the Surfside Beach area, in what is now being referred to as the Surfside gas station shooting. A third person was shot and survived, according to the Horry County Coroner’s Office and the Horry County Police Department.

The Horry County Coroner’s Office describes the deaths as an apparent murder-suicide related to the Surfside gas station shooting [WMBF News, 2026]. Bruce Taylor, 43, of Georgetown, and Christina Hammers, 46, who lived at Myrtle Beach Resort, died at the scene. Chief Deputy Coroner Tamara Willard confirmed both died of gunshot wounds.

Police have said there is no ongoing threat to the public. Much of the rest of this case — including why it happened — has not been established, and this article says so where that is true.

What Investigators Have Described

Accounts of the time differ slightly. Both myhorrynews and WPDE placed the shooting at about 11:45 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 26 [myhorrynews, 2026; WPDE, 2026]. WMBF reported that the two entered the store shortly after 11:30 p.m. [WMBF News, 2026]. Either way, it happened shortly before midnight.

The Horry County Coroner’s Office said Taylor and Hammers entered the store, that Taylor grabbed Hammers and shot her, and that he then walked across the store and turned the gun on himself. Both died at the location. That account, and the phrase “apparent murder-suicide,” come from the coroner’s office.

A third person was shot and sustained non-life-threatening injuries. That person has not been named by any agency, and no source has said how that person came to be shot.

WMBF gave the address as 199 Maryport Drive; WPDE placed the scene in the 100 block of Maryport Drive [WMBF News, 2026; WPDE, 2026]. Those descriptions are consistent with each other. The Horry County Police Department is the investigating agency, and the “Surfside Beach area” as used in these reports is not the same thing as the Town of Surfside Beach, a municipality that has its own police department.

For anyone living near Maryport Drive, the most immediately useful fact is the narrowest one. The police department said there is **no ongoing threat** and that all parties involved are accounted for [WPDE, 2026; myhorrynews, 2026]. An initial police report says officers secured the scene and notified the department’s Criminal Investigations Division. The investigation remains active and ongoing.

What Is Not Known

That account covers what agencies have said. It leaves out a great deal, and this is the part most likely to be filled in by rumor, so it is worth stating flatly.

**No agency has established any relationship between Taylor and Hammers.** Not the coroner’s office, not the police department, and not any outlet that has reported on the case. They have been described only as two people who entered a store. Anyone circulating a theory about who they were to each other is going beyond the public record.

No motive has been offered by any agency. Why this happened is unknown.

The third person shot has not been identified, and no source has described that person’s role or their condition beyond “non-life-threatening.” Whether other people were inside the store, how many, and what they saw has not been reported by any agency.

Details of the Surfside Gas Station Shooting

Nothing has been made public about prior records, prior contact with law enforcement, or prior court orders involving either of the people who died. No source has addressed that, and this article does not.

How the Early Count Changed

One set of facts did change in public view during the first hours, and readers who checked the story Wednesday night saw different numbers than the ones above.

WPDE’s initial report carried the headline “Three shot at Surfside Beach Murphy Gas; two in critical condition, police say” [WPDE, 2026]. That reflected what police had at the time. The coroner’s office later established that two of the three had died and that the survivor’s injuries were not life-threatening. WPDE updated its own reporting.

This is how breaking-crime information behaves. Early figures come off a scene that is still being worked, before a coroner has made determinations that only a coroner can make. **The change here is a correction to the public record, not a failure by the outlet that reported it first.**

The practical lesson for a reader is to hold the first numbers loosely for the first several hours, and to wait for the coroner’s office before treating a casualty count as settled.

What Happens Next

The Horry County Police Department’s investigation is open, and any further information — including anything about the surviving victim, when that person’s privacy and medical condition allow — would come from the department or the coroner’s office. Until then, the honest summary is short: two people are dead in what the Horry County Coroner’s Office calls an apparent murder-suicide, one person is recovering, and police say the community is not in danger.

**If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available 24 hours a day. Call or text 988.**

Further Reading

Surfside gas station shooting – WMBF News — “Coroner’s office: 2 dead after apparent murder-suicide inside Surfside Beach-area gas station” (Aug. 27, 2026) — https://www.wmbfnews.com/2026/08/27/police-multiple-gunshot-victims-found-inside-surfside-beach-area-gas-station/

Surfside gas station shooting – myhorrynews — “Two killed in Surfside Beach shooting” (Aug. 27, 2026) — https://www.myhorrynews.com/news/two-dead-one-injured-in-surfside-beach-shooting/article_d098884f-f3ef-4c44-9eb2-82bc5e5c7ca2.html

Surfside gas station shooting – WPDE — “Three shot at Surfside Beach Murphy Gas; two in critical condition, police say” (Aug. 27, 2026) — https://wpde.com/news/local/three-shot-at-surfside-beach-murphy-gas-two-in-critical-condition-police-say

Surfside gas station shooting – WBTW — “Multiple people shot at Surfside Beach-area gas station, police report says” — https://www.wbtw.com/news/grand-strand/horry-county/multiple-people-shot-at-surfside-beach-area-gas-station-police-report-says/

Surfside gas station shooting – WCBD News 2 — “2 dead, 1 injured in shooting inside Surfside Beach-area gas station, authorities say” — https://www.counton2.com/news/crime/2-dead-1-injured-in-shooting-inside-surfside-beach-area-gas-station-authorities-say/

Surfside gas station shooting – 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline — https://988lifeline.org/