A sheriff’s officer says a shooting at a South Carolina nightclub left two people dead and eight injured.
GREENVILLE, SC – A shooting in a South Carolina nightclub left two people dead and eight injured, said a sheriff’s officer.
Two delegates from the Greenville County Sheriff noticed a disturbance in the Lavish Lounge just before 2 am and saw a large crowd rushing out of the building, Sheriff Hobart Lewis said at a news conference. There were “active shots from inside the building,” Lt. Jimmy Bolt said in an initial statement, and Lewis said all shots were fired inside the building.
Lewis and Bolt initially said 12 people were injured – with at least four in critical condition, Lewis said – but Bolt later told WYFF-TV that the number of victims was revised. A phone call and text message to Lewis and an email to Bolt from the Associated Press seeking clarification were not immediately returned.
No one was immediately taken into custody. The sheriff’s office had “some suspicious information,” Lewis said at the news conference, but was not sure if there were several snipers.
“We don’t really have a person of interest that we can nominate,” said Lewis, adding later that officials were not sure what led to the shooting.
The names and precise conditions of the victims were not immediately released. Lewis said the victims were taken to Prisma Health hospital in Greenville, some in private vehicles.
Prisma Health spokesman Tammie Epps was unable to comment immediately when contacted by phone.
Lewis said that a “very large crowd” was at the club for “some kind of show. A post on the Lavish Lounge Facebook page announced a performance on July 4 by rapper Foogiano.
A direct message from the AP on Instagram was not immediately returned, but a reservation representative told the AP via text message that Foogiano was fine and his team was safe.
The nightclub is located about 8 kilometers southwest of downtown Greenville, in the northern region of the state of South Carolina.
Coronavirus cases in South Carolina have increased rapidly and the state’s rate of positive tests is three times the recommended level. In late June, Greenville – which experienced some of the state’s highest COVID-19 rates – became the first city to require facial coverage in South Carolina, where Governor Henry McMaster refused to implement a mask requirement across the country. state.
McMaster reminded the South Carolinians last week that he has not lifted restrictions on large crowds and that nightclubs that operate illegally or perform shows against his orders do not need to be caught red-handed to face criminal charges, but they can be accused of more weeks. later, if COVID-19 cases are tracked.
A phone call and a direct Instagram message from the AP to Lavish Lounge were not immediately returned, but the club posted on Facebook shortly before 6 am that the events “were postponed until further notice”.
Lewis said at the news conference that he did not know whether the club had sought an exemption under the governor’s order or obtained an authorization for Saturday night’s event, but said it was clear that the club’s customers were not 2 meters apart.
“It is certainly not the best situation to prevent the virus from spreading,” said the sheriff.