16 nightclub shootings, 6 fatal in 4 years, but SC club security need no license and no training
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. May 2 2024 In less than four years, there have been several deadly bar shootings in Horry County, yet there aren’t any state laws in place regulating security in bars and nightclubs.
WMBF News started looking into bar and nightclub security after the trial surrounding the deadly shooting at Donny’s Saloon in Myrtle Beach.
Surveillance video was shown in the courtroom of the moment when bullets started to fly inside the bar on March 25, 2021. In the video, a security guard is seen sprinting away from the bar after a gun was fired.
Bullets ended up hitting 26-year-old Jas’sier Wilson inside the bar and he died several days later.
“If guns are getting into bars, security isn’t doing their job,” said Guiseppe Paparo, who has worked as a security guard for me than five years at several different bars and nightclubs in Horry County.
He said shootings at places meant for entertainment should never happen, but they do all over the Grand Strand.
“I see it a lot whenever I go out to bars. The security isn’t paying attention. They’re not focused, they’re just not doing their job,” Paparo explained.
WMBF News asked for a list of bars and nightclubs in Horry County where a shooting took place over the past five years. But Horry County said it does not maintain a list of establishments where shootings have occurred.
We then went back through our reporting and found since 2020 there have been 16 bar shootings. Six of those shootings have turned deadly.
“I do think that it falls on the bar owners because they’re providing security, but it’s not quality security,” Paparo said. “They’re just hiring anybody off the streets, and they need people that are qualified to do the job properly to prevent these kinds of things from happening.”
Fifteenth Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson agreed with Paparo. He said once you step foot into a business, your life is in the hands of the owner.
“The dollars and cents is what drives what type of security they may have. There’s really no state law that says it. If I opened a bar, I could hire my cousin or anybody to work the door, make sure underage people aren’t coming in and to make sure there was no weapons,” Richardson explained.
He added that it’s up to the business on how much security they need to bring in.
“Most of that is just good business practices. It’s not necessarily set out by law. The government doesn’t come in and tell you how to run a business. How you get to that point is pretty much a business decision,” Richardson said.
The solicitor did point out that the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division offers both basic and armed training courses for security guards.
Paparo said that he’s gone through both courses and believes they are a step in the right direction but don’t go far enough.
“When we went through the armed portion because our company needed armed security really badly, there were people that have never shot a gun doing armed security that passed qualifications,” Paparo said.
“No permits?” reporter Ale Espinosa questioned.
“No permits, they’ve never shot a gun,” Paparo re-iterated.
Both Richardson and Paparo agree that business owners should put better practices in place to keep guns outside of their bars and nightclubs.
As of now, there is no legislation or legislation in the works to address this issue.
