MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — The police officer from Myrtle Beach who fatally shot 18-year-old Jerrius Davis after Davis opened fire on a crowd along Ocean Boulevard in late April will not be charged criminally, officials announced on Friday.
Officer Brandon O’Rourke will return to full active duty on Friday, consistent with Myrtle Beach Police Department policy, following the decision not to press charges. After the shooting on April 26, O’Rourke was put on paid administrative leave while an investigation by SLED was carried out, which has now concluded.
In a letter to SLED, shared with News13 by Myrtle Beach police, Fifteenth Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson stated that O’Rourke’s use of deadly force was justified.
“Having reviewed your comprehensive investigation and applying the standard of objective reasonableness along with the heightened threat level, I am declining to prosecute this case,” Richardson wrote. “It seems that Pfc. O’Rourke acted appropriately to mitigate the threat posed to himself, his fellow officers, and the surrounding community threatened by Davis.”
Officers O’Rourke, Mohamed El-Helwi, and Jeramiah Johnson were leaving a separate service call at Mr. Fries located in the 900 block of N. Ocean Boulevard at around 11:50 p.m., according to reports. Surveillance video captures Davis drawing a handgun and shooting multiple rounds at a group of individuals.
On hearing the shots, O’Rourke drew his department-issued 9mm Glock handgun to fire back at Davis, who began fleeing from the crowd he had previously shot at four times. O’Rourke responded with five shots directed at Davis, resulting in his death.
El-Helwi and Johnson were right behind O’Rourke, but never fired their handguns, police said. The shootings, from start to finish, lasted less than five seconds.
“Obviously, April 26, 2025 was a chaotic night. That chaos started when Davis opened fire on a crowded section of Ocean Boulevard,” Richardson’s letter reads. “The above mentioned Myrtle Beach Police officers responded very quickly and because of all of the cameras, we have a good idea of what went on in those hectic and dangerous seconds of gunfire.”
Richardson said to determine if O’Rourke was justified, they had to look into the “reasonableness” of his actions.
“Clearly, he walked into a situation where Davis was still firing into a crowd or had been shooting seconds earlier,” he wrote. “From the witness statements, the video and audio submissions captured by the city’s shot spotter,’ we know that the situation was active and potentially deadly.”
In the aftermath of the shooting, 11 people suffered gunshot-related injuries, with some of them including bullet wounds and shrapnel grazes. Police Chief Amy Prock said four of them were taken by an ambulance, while seven self-reported to the hospital.
One of those people was critically hurt, but all have since been released from the hospital, according to Prock. The victims’ ages ranged from 13 to 43.
At least two other teenagers known to have been injured are 15-year-old Serenity Chavis and Zavian Washington, 13. Both are being represented by civil rights activist John Barnett.
Chavis claims she was shot by an officer’s bullet, as does an unnamed 17-year-old.
“We may go home, and it’s business as usual, but they are left in the dark, in their bedroom as children, teenagers, saying, I went to the beach and got shot,” Barnett said in early June.
Myrtle Beach police also said Friday it received an unredacted copy of SLED’s report into the shooting, but that it contains confidential juvenile information that, by South Carolina law, cannot be released. SLED is currently in the process of redacting the confidential information so that a publicly available copy can be released.
This is a developing story. Count on News13 for updates.
