MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – Myrtle Beach police arrested four men from Orangeburg County in connection with the shooting outside Ripley’s on Ocean Boulevard Thursday morning.
Captain Joey Crosby with the Myrtle Beach Police Department says officers responded to 9th Avenue North and Ocean Boulevard around 1 a.m. Thursday morning for a report of a shooting.
People were sitting on the steps of Ripley’s Believe It Or Not, according to Captain Crosby, and started shooting at two vehicles driving down Ocean Blvd. Police say the vehicles fled the scene west on 9th Ave N. The vehicles are described as a red Jeep Cherokee and a black Lexus sedan.
Captain Crosby says four people have been arrested.
Sa’Quel Pepper, 18, Myleek Henderson and Anthony Robinson, both 19, all of Orangeburg, are each charged with with simple possession of marijuana, unlawful carry of a handgun, possession of a stolen firearm, and discharge a firearm within city limits.
Da’Jour Murphy, 19, of Santee, is charged with simple possession of marijuana, unlawful carry of a handgun, possession of a stolen firearm, discharge firearm within city limits, and possession of a firearm by person convicted of a violent felony.
Just hours prior to the 9th Ave. N. shooting, officers were called to a shooting about one mile away in the parking lot of the Days Inn hotel, located at 806 S. Ocean Blvd. One person was hurt in that shooting. Police charged two Conway men with attempted murder.
During a press conference Thursday afternoon, Captain Crosby said there was no evidence that connected the two shootings.
Also in Thursday’s press conference, Myrtle Beach Mayor Brenda Bethune spoke on the city’s use of barricades along Ocean Boulevard and where the “majority” of crime stems from within the city.
“The barricades do not stop violence, in this instance,” Mayor Bethune stated. “We continue to have the majority of our crimes being committed by people who come here from North Carolina.”
The mayor went on to say that the city is attempting to work with the North Carolina governor on changing state laws to help stop the violence in Myrtle Beach.
“We have been working with our governor,” said Mayor Bethune. “We are going to try our best to work with the governor in North Carolina to change their laws so that they will allow their law enforcement agencies, their officers, to come here and work with us just as we do with them, to help alleviate a lot of this.”
Two suspects arrested in Wednesday night’s shooting are from Conway. Four suspects arrested in the shooting that happened hours later on Ocean Boulevard are from Orangeburg County.
The four suspects connected to the shooting outside Ripley’s Believe It or Not are expected to be in court Friday at 4 p.m.
