2 dead, 8 hurt in South Carolina nightclub shooting

Two people were killed and another eight wounded in a shooting in a South Carolina nightclub in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Greenville County, S.C., Sheriff Hobart Lewis said a large crowd ran out of Lavish Lounge in Greenville around 2:00 a.m., The Associated Press reported. Lewis said shots were only fired inside the building.

No victims’ names were immediately released, but Lewis said they had all been taken to Greenville’s Prisma Health hospital.

Lewis said the shooting occurred while a “very large crowd” was inside the building for “some type of concert.” Lt. Jimmy Bolt, meanwhile, told the AP the sheriff’s office is in search of two suspects, but was not able to provide descriptions or names.

Lewis said at the press conference that the sheriff’s office was unsure how the gunfire had begun and that “[w]e don’t really have a person of interest that we can name.”

Greenville, a state hotspot for the novel coronavirus, has implemented a citywide mask order, although South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) has declined to impose a statewide order. Despite the lack of a mask order, McMaster has kept restrictions on large public gatherings in place, and said last week that violators could be charged if coronavirus cases are traced back to them.

Lewis said he did not know whether the club had secured an exemption to the prohibition for the event but said the patrons had visibly not been practicing social distancing.

“It’s certainly not the best situation to stop the spread of this virus,” he said, according to the AP.

Lewis and Bolt said an initial count showed at least 12 people were wounded, with four in critical condition, but Bolt later told the AP he believed two of the victims had been accidentally counted twice at the hospital.