Just past midnight on a Sunday morning, two corners of South Carolina became scenes of horror. In Beaufort, a vibrant crowd at Willie’s Bar and Grill was met with bullets. Farther inland, a fight at Truth Bar & Grill in Anderson cratered into tragedy. In total: six people killed, dozens wounded. Amid the chaos and confusion, a community is left to wonder how a weekend turned into a massacre.
Around 1:00 a.m., deputies with the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office raced to Willie’s Bar and Grill on St. Helena Island after multiple 911 calls. When they arrived, they found hundreds of people — many fleeing, many crouched behind doors and in nearby businesses. At least 20 people had been shot, four of them critically. Tragically, four patrons were pronounced dead at the scene, their identities not yet released.
Deputies said the scene was chaotic: patrons dived for cover, some bleeding and disoriented, others vanished into the dark. Emergency responders transported many wounded to area hospitals. As of early reports, four victims remained in critical condition. The Sheriff’s Office urged calm and patience as they began piecing together the events.
Then, just over two hours later, at about 3:15 a.m., first responders in Anderson were called to 208 West Franklin Street, the site of Truth Bar & Grill, following reports of gunfire. Officers and medics arrived to find five people shot. The Anderson County Coroner later confirmed two of them had died: Calvin Chester Jr., 54, shot in the head, and Roymad McDaniel, 30, struck in the chest. Their deaths are being ruled homicides.
The motive remains unclear. Authorities say the shooting stemmed from an altercation inside the bar, but whether the gunman was among those shot is still under investigation. Three others who were wounded are receiving treatment at AnMed Hospital.
Between the two shootings, the tally is grim: six dead, roughly 25–30 wounded. While the Beaufort incident accounts for the larger share of casualties, the Anderson tragedy compounds the heartbreak. At this stage, investigators have not confirmed whether the attacks were linked, or whether any arrests have been made.
Law enforcement is pursuing leads. In Beaufort, the sheriff’s office is reviewing surveillance footage, interviewing witnesses, and searching for persons of interest. On St. Helena, the roadway on Martin Luther King Drive had been shut while deputies worked the scene; it has since reopened.
In Anderson, the coroner’s office and city police are in close coordination. Autopsies are scheduled, ballistic evidence is being collected, and investigators are attempting to reconstruct how a fight turned so deadly in a matter of minutes.
This isn’t the first time South Carolina has witnessed bar shootings, but the scale and proximity of these dual attacks have shaken two communities in one night. Families await word on missing loved ones, hospitals brace for more arrivals, and law enforcement races against time to find answers. In the aftermath, grief and fear hang heavy — and the search for justice must rise above the night’s darkness.