INVESTIGATORS ARE BEING VERY METICULOUS IN THEIR EFFORTS TO FIND OUT WHO FIRED THE SHOTS THAT KILLED FOUR PEOPLE AND WOUNDED NEARLY 20 AT A ST. HELENA BAR OVER THE WEEKEND, WHICH IS WHY SERHIFF P-J TANNER SAYS THERE HAVEN’T BEEN ANY ARRESTS ANNOUNCED YET. HE DID SAY THAT HE BELIEVES THE SHOTS CAME FROM AT LEAST TWO, POSSIBLY THREE FEUDING GANG MEMBERS WHO HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE REUNION PARTY THAT GREW TO AROUND 700 PEOPLE LATE LAST SATURDAY NIGHT. TANNER KEPT MANY OTHER DETAILS CLOSELY GUARDED, BUT DID MENTION THAT OF ALL THE INTERVIEWS DONE SO FAR, NOBODY HAS STEPPED FORWARD TO IDENTIFY THE SHOOTERS, AND THAT THE PREVALENCE OF AUTOMATIC WEAPONS IN OUR AREA HAS MADE KEEPING RESIDENTS SAFE AN ONGOING QUESTION. HE NOTED THAT THE SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT HAS ARRESTED 24 PEOPLE IN THE LAST YEAR-AND-A-HALF FOR POSESSION OF MACHINE GUNS BUT BECAUSE OF BONDING ISSUES, 18 OF THEM ARE ALREADY BACK OUT ON THE STREETS. MULTIPLE LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES ARE STILL INVOLVED IN THE INVESTIGATION, INCLUDING THE F-B-I.
IN AN UNRELATED MATTER, BUT POSSIBLY PROVING TANNER’S POINT, TWO HILTON HEAD TEENAGERS HAVE BEEN INDICTED BY A FEDERAL GRAND JURY IN CHARLESTON AFTER MULTIPLE MACHINE GUNS WERE FOUND IN A HARDEEVILLE APARTMENT. 19-YEAR-OLD X’ZAVION BRYAN AND 18-YEAR-OLD TRE’VEYON BRYAN HAVE BEEN TRANSFERRED FROM THE JASPER COUNTY JAIL TO THE CHARLESTON COUNTY JAIL, WHERE THEY’LL REMAIN FOR NOW. THEY’RE CHARGED WITH POSSESSION OF THOSE MACHINE GUNS AND ALSO ARE WANTED ON ARMED ROBBERY CHARGES IN NEIGHBORING COUNTIES. THE GUNS WERE SEIZED IN A RAID BY JASPER COUNTY DEPUTIES AND A-T-F AGENTS BACK IN JANUARY.
YOU KNEW THIS WAS COMING. THE MOTHER OF A BOY HELD AT GUNPOINT BY AN OFF-DUTY BEAUFORT COUNTY DEPUTY THREE WEEKS AGO IS FILED A FEDERAL LAWSUIT AGAINST THE OFFICER, BILLY SQUIRES, THE BEAUFORT COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE, AND A GROUP OF NEIGHBORS WHO TOOK PART IN THE INCIDENT ON HILTON HEAD ISLND. LAQUESHA HABERSHAM IS ACCUSING SQUIRES OF A ‘SHOCKING ABUSE OF POWER’ IN THE ‘BRAZEN AND UNLAWFUL INCIDENT’. SHE’S ALSO SUING THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE FOR EMPLOYING SQUIRES, EVEN THOUGH HE WAS IMMEDIATELY SUSPENDED AFTER THE INCIDENT AND FIRED A COUPLE OF DAYS LATER AFTER ADMITTING HE’D BEEN DRINKING AND WAS DRIVING HIS PATROL VEHICLE BEFORE THE INCIDENT. THE STATE LAW ENFORCEMENT DIVISION IS STILL INVESTIGATING THE WHOLE MATTER, WHICH BECAME A NATIONAL STORY BECAUSE IT WAS ALL VIDEOED ON A CELLPHONE. THE LAWSUIT ACCUSES SQUIRES AND 5 UN-NAMED NEIGHBORS OF ASSAULT AND BATTERY, EXCESSIVE FORCE, FALSE IMPRISONMENT, ILLEGAL SEARCH AND SEIZURE AND MULTIPLE VIOLATIONS OF SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT POLICY.
AND HILTON HEAD ISLAND GOT A RARE VISIT FROM GOVERNOR MCMASTER TO SPEAK TO THE HILTON HEAD-BLUFFON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE’S ANNUAL STATE OF THE REGION LUNCHEON. MCMASTER IS TERM-LIMITED FROM RUNNING AGAIN IN 2026 AND USED THE SPEECH TO TALK ABOUT IMPROVING OUR YOUTHS’ PATHWAYS TO SUCCESS, SAYING ITS IMPERATIVE TO SET THE NEXT GENERATION UP TO CARRY THE TORCH. HE ALSO TOLD AREA LEADERS HE HAS A GOAL TO PROTECT 10-MILLION ACRES OF LAND IN THE COMING YEARS.