Welfare Check Ends in Officer-Involved Shooting in Socastee; Suspect in Custody

Posted Thursday, October 15, 2026 6:59 pm

David Hucks (via MyrtleBeachSC)

By X.com/myrtlebeachnews | Thursday, October 15, 2026

A call to check on someone’s well-being in the Socastee area turned into an Officer-Involved Shooting in Socastee Thursday afternoon. It’s the latest in a string of Horry County calls that started out routine and turned dangerous within minutes. Horry County police say a suspect is in custody, and spokesperson Ashley Boles said the shooting followed a welfare check.

Officers were on Hayes Point Road. Along with the suspect, a second person was brought out of the home, and police say both were removed without further violence. Boles said the officer was not hurt.

This incident underscores the ongoing concerns surrounding officer-involved shootings in the area, specifically, the recent Officer-Involved Shooting in Socastee.

Little else is public yet. This report lays out what has been confirmed, what hasn’t, what usually happens next, and why the way this case is handled matters to Horry County.

Understanding the Officer-Involved Shooting in Socastee

What We Know and What We Don’t

The first public signs came mid-afternoon. HCPD announced it was investigating in the 800 block of Hayes Point Road and asked people to stay away so officers could work. WBTW posted the same alert shortly after 4 p.m. and said police were not yet releasing details.

Over the next hour, the picture changed. WMBF’s first story described an “active investigation.” It was later updated to say the incident was an officer-involved shooting. Police said the scene was secure and more information would come once it was cleared. Police Chief Kris Leonhardt spoke to reporters at the scene, and WMBF labeled that interview a “standoff.” ] That label suggests the encounter lasted some time, not just seconds.

Several important questions have not been answered publicly as of Thursday evening:

Who fired, and whether shots were exchanged
Whether anyone, including the suspect, was struck
The suspect’s name and any charges
Who the second person removed from the home is, and how they are connected to the suspect
What prompted the welfare check, and who called it in

Readers should be careful with anything circulating on social media that goes beyond these confirmed facts.

The Most Unpredictable Call an Officer Can Get

From the outside, a welfare check sounds like the gentlest kind of police work. A relative can’t reach someone, or a neighbor is worried, and an officer knocks on the door. But officers often arrive with almost no information about who is inside, their state of mind, or whether they’re armed. That uncertainty is what makes these calls risky for everyone.

Horry County has seen this before. In October 2020, HCPD officers responded to a welfare-check request on Myerlee Drive outside Myrtle Beach after a report of someone barricaded inside a home. A person pointed a gun at the officers and was shot. That shooting came less than a week after Myrtle Beach officer Jacob Hancher was killed in a shootout.

Another case started as a complaint about a disorderly tenant. In January 2023, a man inside a Myrtle Beach hotel room fired multiple times when officers arrived, wounding one officer with a fragment, and then barricaded himself. Hours later, after a SWAT response, gunfire was exchanged and the man died. [SLED, 2023] sc

These cases follow the same pattern: an ordinary call, a closed door, and a person in crisis on the other side. The pattern raises a fair question for county leaders. What training and resources, including mental-health support, do patrol officers have when a welfare check goes wrong? The details of Thursday’s call will show whether that question applies here. Either way, it’s a question residents are entitled to ask.

Socastee’s Recent History With Police Shootings

Thursday’s shooting also isn’t the first in this part of the county.

In February 2019, a police chase ended in an officer-involved shooting near Maypop Circle and Palmetto Pointe Boulevard. The suspect was wounded, and three officers were taken to the hospital, though none had been shot. The 15th Circuit Solicitor’s Office later ruled that shooting justified and filed no charges.

In July 2020, two HCPD officers responding to a disturbance in the Amberfield neighborhood off Dick Pond Road were met in the street by an armed man who had been threatening neighbors. The man was killed in the exchange of gunfire, and no officers were hurt. [WBTW, 2020] wbtw

Just south of Socastee, in September 2024, officers responding to an active shooting on South Reindeer Road near Surfside Beach traded fire with an armed 60-year-old man. Neither he nor the officers were hit, and he was taken into custody. [SLED, 2024] He was later charged with 15 offenses, including four counts of aggravated assault and battery and first-degree burglary [WMBF, 2024]. sc wmbfnews

For perspective, police shootings remain fairly rare for HCPD, even as the county grows. State figures show the department had no officer-involved shootings in 2022 [SLED, 2023]. It had one in 2023, and the Reindeer Road incident was its first of 2024. Statewide, South Carolina recorded 43 police shootings in 2023 [SLED, 2024]. That rose to 45 in 2024 [SLED, 2025]. Because these shootings are uncommon locally, each one draws close attention.

What Happens Next: The SLED Process

When an officer fires a weapon in South Carolina, the investigation usually moves out of the local department’s hands. The State Law Enforcement Division takes on officer-involved shootings when the involved agency or the one with jurisdiction requests it. SLED describes its goal as a thorough, independent criminal investigation completed as quickly as circumstances allow. [SLED, 2024] Agents interview witnesses and collect and forensically test evidence. [SLED, 2025] sc sc

Fifteenth Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson has explained the reason for this setup. He said that having an outside agency investigate prevents the officer’s own employer from judging whether the shooting was justified. [WBTW via Yahoo News, 2025] After SLED finishes its investigation, the solicitor’s office decides whether the officer’s actions were lawful. That’s the step that produced the “justified” finding in the 2019 Socastee case.

Officers involved in these shootings are typically taken off duty while the case is reviewed. When a state trooper shot a man during a 2021 Horry County traffic stop, he was placed on administrative leave, which was described as standard protocol until the investigation was complete. [WPDE, 2021] Neither SLED nor HCPD has said publicly whether that applies here. I also could not find a SLED release on Thursday’s incident as of this writing. When SLED does post one, it usually lists where the shooting ranks statewide for the year, which will be a useful number to compare.

Why the Handling of This Case Matters

The facts of Thursday’s shooting may turn out to be simple. But the department handling it is still rebuilding public trust, and that context matters.

In March 2025, Deputy Chief Brandon Strickland resigned as SLED opened an investigation into alleged misconduct tied to the 2023 road-rage killing of Scott Spivey. Chief Leonhardt asked both SLED and the FBI to take another look at the evidence. Weeks later, a 23-year veteran patrol sergeant was fired in connection with the same case. Leonhardt said that any possible misconduct since he took over had been investigated and would be dealt with if it proved improper. [WPDE, 2025] The fallout is still going on. Earlier this month, a county detective who had been named in the Spivey family’s federal lawsuit was demoted .

Thursday’s shooting isn’t connected to any of that. But it is a clear test of whether the department is following through on its promise to be more open. Local precedent shows what transparency can look like. In 2021, the solicitor’s office released surveillance footage of a deadly trooper shooting, saying it did so in the interest of full transparency [WPDE, 2021]. Residents can reasonably expect the same here: an incident report released promptly, 911 audio available through public-records requests, and body-camera footage made public once SLED’s investigation allows it.

What is Confirmed

Here is what’s confirmed tonight. A welfare check on Hayes Point Road ended with an officer firing a weapon. A suspect is in custody, a second person was safely removed from the home, and the officer was not injured. Who fired first, whether anyone was struck, and what led to the call are still unknown.

Things to watch in the coming days:

A SLED news release and the state’s updated count of police shootings for 2026
The suspect’s name and charges in J. Reuben Long Detention Center records
HCPD’s incident report and the 911 call record
The condition of anyone who may have been hurt
Whether the department commits to releasing body-camera video

We’ll keep pushing for answers to all of these and update this story as the records come in.