Columbia, South Carolina — COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The sheriff said his deputies are investigating methodically Mass shooting over the weekend He killed four people and wounded 16 others at a bar on a South Carolina island, but they didn’t get the kind of help they needed from hundreds of people partying before the shooting.
Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner said Wednesday that no arrests have been made yet, as investigators conduct DNA testing, weapons and bullet analysis, and enhanced crime scene video of the early Sunday shooting at Willie’s Bar and Grill on St. Helena Island.
Investigators believe fire It started as a dispute between two or three people who grew up together in Beaufort County and they started shooting at each other.
“We had 700 people at this party,” Tanner said. “And we still haven’t had a witness who can tell us who the shooters were. It’s ridiculous.”
Al-Sharif said he believes people want to cooperate but fear retaliation. They can report what they know anonymously, he said Through Crimestoppers.
Tanner took questions from reporters and the community Wednesday about the shooting that happened near the last invitation to drinks at a party celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Class of 2000 at Battery Creek High School in Beaufort.
Tanner described the scene as horrific but not surprising given that the shots were fired randomly into a large crowd of about 300 people inside the bar itself and 400 outside.
“When that many shots are fired into a crowd with that many people, many people get hurt. Many people die,” Tanner said. Wednesday briefing.
Building a case based on evidence rather than eyewitnesses takes time, Tanner said.
Shell casings and bullets, some taken from inside the victims, were sent to state agents on Wednesday. The FBI was trying to enhance and analyze video from inside and outside the bar. Beaufort County deputies were testing for DNA, Tanner said.
Al-Sharif said the goal is to ensure that the charges against him continue.
“What I will not do is hurt these families again,” Tanner said.
Tanner declined to say how many people might have opened fire or give any identifying information about potential suspects.
Al-Sharif also explained that 16 people were injured in the shooting. Initial reports stated that at least 20 people were injured as a result of the shooting.
Cashon Glaze (22); Sherad Smalls, 33; Amos Gary (54); and Ashantik Milledge, 22, were killed in the shooting.
Willie’s Bar offers… Inspired by Jula The Kitchen describes itself on its website as “not just a restaurant but a community pillar committed to giving back, especially to our youth.”
It is estimated at five thousand or more The Jola people Those living on St. Helena Island trace their ancestry back to West African slaves who once worked on rice plantations in the area before they were eventually freed due to civil war.