street. Helena Island, South Carolina – street. HELENA ISLAND, South Carolina (AP) — A mass shooting occurred early Sunday at a crowded bar on an idyllic island considered… The largest Gullah community A tornado on the South Carolina coast killed four people and injured at least 20 others, officials said.
There was a large crowd at Willie’s Bar and Grill on St. Helena Island when sheriff’s deputies arrived and found several people with gunshot wounds. The estimated 5,000 or more Gullah people living on the island trace their lineage back to West African slaves who once worked on rice plantations in the region before being freed by civil war.
Bar owner Willie Toral was inside the establishment, which was packed for an event for high school graduates, when he heard gunfire “in bursts” outside. He described the scene: “screaming, panic and fear.”
Several people ran into nearby businesses to seek shelter from the gunfire, the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on the social media platform X.
The statement said: “This is a tragic and difficult incident for everyone.” “We ask for your patience as we continue to investigate this incident. Our thoughts are with all the victims and their loved ones.”
Of the injured, four were in critical condition in hospitals Sunday afternoon. The identities of the victims were not revealed.
The bar was hosting an event for graduates of Battery Creek High School in Beaufort, about 10 miles (16 kilometers) northwest of St. Helena Island, Toral said. He said people were having a good time when they heard the gunfire.
“It was scary from the inside, as people didn’t know what was really going on outside, and people were trying to get to safety,” he said.
U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace posted on X that she was “deeply saddened to learn of the devastating shooting.”
Willie’s Bar and Grill advertises itself as serving authentic Gullah-inspired cuisine, and describes itself on its website as “not just a restaurant, but a community pillar committed to giving back, especially to our youth.”
Smaller Gullah enclaves, referred to as Geshe in some areas, are scattered along the southeastern coast from North Carolina to Florida. Scholars say separation from the mainland caused the Gullah to retain much of their African heritage, including a Unique tone and skills such as fishing with cast nets and basket weaving.
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Associated Press writer Cathy McCormack contributed from Concord, New Hampshire.