ST. HELENA ISLAND, S.C. (AP) — On Monday, officials revealed the identities of the three men and one woman who lost their lives in a mass shooting over the weekend at a bar on a South Carolina island. Additionally, at least 20 individuals were injured in the incident.
Willie’s Bar and Grill on St. Helena Island was bustling with patrons when the gunfire erupted on Sunday. Many of those present had attended Battery Creek High School in Beaufort and were gathered at the bar for an alumni reunion.
On Monday, flowers and candles were left outside the bar as the Beaufort County coroner’s office announced the deceased: Kashawn Glaze, 22, Chiraad Smalls, 33, Amos Gary, 54, and A’shan’tek Milledge, 22.
Sheriff’s Lt. Danny Allen said Monday that investigators had no new information to share.
It’s hard “to have your name on the door and not feel the weight of what’s happening,” bar owner Willie Turral told WCSC-TV.
Willie’s Bar offers Gullah-style cuisine and characterizes itself on its website as “more than just a restaurant but a cornerstone of the community dedicated to giving back, particularly to the youth.”
Approximately 5,000 or more Gullah people residing on the island can trace their lineage back to enslaved West Africans who once labored on rice plantations in the region before gaining their freedom after the Civil War.
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This story has been updated to correct the first name of Chiraad Smalls, not Sherrod, the coroner’s office said.
