Charleston Police give update on September King Street shooting

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - The Charleston Police Department is releasing new details regarding a Sept. 4 shooting on King Street.

Lt. Matt Stanley said in a committee on public safety meeting on Monday that seven people were shot, including the intended target and six others.

Stanley over the course of the investigation detectives determined that two offenders, a 16-year-old and 20-year-old were walking on King Street when they observed the intended victim in the area, who was known to the adult from a previous altercation.

Stanley said both offenders conspired and waited at the intersection of King Street and Morris Street for the victim. The adult offender drew a handgun and shot at the victim approximately 10 times.

The victim was shot multiple times, but when he hit the ground, he withdrew a firearm from his waistband and discharged one round.

Six other bystanders were also struck. Stanley said they believe they have identified all the offenders in the case. Four people were charged after the shooting incident, two for the actual shooting and two for unlawful carry.

READ MORE: 2 arrested in Charleston shooting that injured 5

Cpt. Jason Bruder said this particular incident caused them to realize that they needed a more long-term solution. The city has had a pilot program in place to provide more officers and safety measures in place on King Street on weekends for a year and a half, but they now say they’re looking into making it permanent.

The program restricts parking from 6 p.m. to 3 a.m. on King Street, and traffic diversions start around 8 p.m. As of right now on any given weekend night, Bruder said there could be 25 to 40 officers in the King Street area. He said they’re working with parking garages to have a flat rate to help people get out of the area in a timely manner. Fire marshals are looking at occupancy loads and parking enforcement is coming out at night to help ticket vehicles on the weekends. He also said they’re looking to improve lighting and camera systems.

“We’re having those conversations about what does King Street look like long term so we can make sure it’s a safe environment and provide that quality experience people come to Charleston for,” Bruder said.

During the meeting, Bruder said 75 arrests have been made on King Street on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights since Sept. 9. He said they’ve tracked 2.6 million visitors to King Street since the beginning of the year.

“All the safety measures that they’ve put in place from city council and the police department is really impacted King Street and made it a great safe environment,” Roy Neal, owner of El Jefe, said. “The business owners on King Street, all we want is activity and safe environment, and that’s what we’ve got right now.”

December Zabinske-Smith, who works as a shift leader at Benny Ravello’s Pizza, said she still thinks more safety measures could be put in place.

“I don’t feel safe working at night, so even just being down here at night with what’s been going on,” Zabinskie-Smith said.

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