‘We need to feel safe’: Horry Co. neighborhood in fear after social club shooting injures 2

HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WMBF) - Several neighbors said they’re on edge after a late Friday night shooting at State Line Social Club along Sandy Bluff Road.

Horry County police confirm two people were shot at the social club. A police report revealed officers found the victims at a Loris hospital emergency room.

Neighbors in the community recall the night and fear that came when they heard the shots fired just outside.

“I would not even go out on my porch to check and see what was going on because I was scared a stray bullet may hit my house,” said Charlotte Ward, a woman who lives across the road from the club and heard the shooting.

Ward said she’s lived in her home for over 60 years. While she has seen several incidents at State Line, she confessed this shooting was the most upsetting.

“I heard some gunshots and I mean it was pow, pow, pow, pow, pow- I mean real fast gunshots,” said Ward. “It was like a war zone, and I was really terrified, I really was.”

In a photo taken by Ward’s husband, you could still see the police presence at the club on Saturday. In the photo, there are several police cars, yellow crime scene tape and a handful of evidence markers.

After the shooting, State Line took to social media, announcing an updated policy. Their post said men under 30 will not be welcomed at the bar unless they’re already a club member. They also gave a strict warning: “NO MEMBERSHIP, NO LICENSE, NO ENTRY.”

Ward said this updated policy just isn’t enough.

“This is a housing development, I mean we need to be safe in our neighborhood, we need to feel safe and not be scared for our lives,” said Ward.

There aren’t currently any South Carolina state laws regulating security in bars and nightclubs.

Ward said State Line is open every night of the week. She also claims the club is no stranger to trouble, as she said she’s had to call the police on them a handful of times.

“Once the bar closes, they go out to their vehicles, they turn on the music that goes boom, boom, boom, boom and it’ll shake our windows in our house and wake us up from our dead sleep.”

Ward said the Green Sea area where the club sits is growing at a fast pace and leaves no room for senseless violence near new homes.

“We don’t have anything against them [State Line], it’s just that we would like consideration because we live here. And there’s other people that live here too, down the road,” said Ward.

Police are continuing to investigate the shooting.

WMBF News has reached out to State Line several times, but has yet to hear back.

Stay with WMBF News for updates.

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