HARTSVILLE, SC (WBTW) – Students at Coker University are mourning the loss of one of their peers.
Garrett Bakhsh, 18, died Tuesday night following the shooting at Mac’s Lounge early Sunday morning.
He was the third person to die in the shooting.
“Garrett is somebody the whole school loved,” freshman Williams Onyeodi said. “And he is one of my best friends.”
Onyeodi was at the nightclub the moments the shots started ringing out.
“When I heard the gunshots I just ran and it just happened to be him in there,” he recalled. “When I got back on campus they said he was the one who got shot.”
Onyeodi said he hasn’t felt like himself since it happened.
Bakhsh was a freshman criminal justice major from Maryland. He was also member of the lacrosse team.
“He was always someone who was making everyone in the class laugh,” freshman Jordan Ellis said. “He always had a smile on his face around campus.”
Ellis said the whole campus seems down.
“It’s not like it was, but everyone is coming together as a whole” Ellis said. “Like yesterday we had a prayer circle on campus and I feel like everyone’s going to get through it together.”
Bakhsh was the son of two Baltimore County PD police officers. Lieutenant Mandy Biter spoke to News13 for his family.
“Garrett was at this lounge having a good time celebrating one of his friend’s birthdays,” Lt. Biter said. “Two people come in on the other side of the bar and start arguing with one another and start shooting. Garrett and his friends had nothing to do with any of that.”
A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family out. So far, it’s surpassed $55,000 in donations.
Coker Athletics announced there would be blue-outs at the women’s and men’s basketball games Wednesday night.
“We will play tonight. I will play personally for Garrett tonight,” Onyeodi said.
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