The Georgetown County Sheriff’s Office is now working with the 15th Circuit Solicitor’s Office to find solutions to repeated violent crimes at a Pawleys Island nightclub.
As reported Wednesday, two people were shot at Club Isis at about 12:45 a.m. Dec. 29.
Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Carrie Cuthbertson says Terrance Rayon Thompson, 28, is still at large. He is wanted for two counts of attempted murder and possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a violent crime.
Anyone with information on his whereabouts is urged to call the Sheriff’s Office at 546-5102.
According to new details about the incident released this week, a 25-year-old Browns Ferry Road man was shot in the hand. When deputies met with him at the hospital, the man said he was at Club Isis for a party. He said he was outside the club when Thompson started talking to him.
He said Thompson seemed friendly and calm at that time.
However, as the conversation continued, Thompson took out a roll of cash and then started saying things the victim said he did not understand. He said Thompson then got angry and yelled “you trying to play me?”
He said he asked Thompson what was wrong. That is when Thompson allegedly presented a handgun and pulled the trigger.
The victim said Thompson then “calmly turned and walked away as everyone started to run.”
The man said he did not realize he had been shot until his hand started feeling heavy. He said that’s when he saw his thumb was bleeding.
A bouncer helped him to the bathroom where the blood was washed off. He then called a relative to drive him to the hospital.
Also at the hospital, deputies met with a 24-year-old Georgetown man who had been shot in the right hand and upper thigh, a report states.
He said he was inside the club when he heard “a loud bang like a firecracker.” He said he ducked down and then ran to the door which is when he realized he had been shot.
He said he did not know who fired the shot. A man who drove him to the hospital was also unable to identify the gunman.
Deputies were called back to the club at about 2 a.m. New Year’s morning where a 21-year-old McClellanville man reportedly tried to get inside with a gun in his boot and two magazines in his pants pocket.
When deputies met with Joshua Taylor, one of the magazines was empty. He said he had been in a church parking lot and fired shots in the air to celebrate the new year.
Taylor said he had the gun with him because he “felt unsafe” at the club.
He was charged with a weapon violation and was taken to jail.
Guns and gunfire has been an ongoing problem at Club Isis.
On Aug. 18, Sean Edwards, 21, of New Haven, Conn., was gunned down in the parking lot of the Ocean Highway club.
In that incident, Edwards was found on the ground with a faint pulse. He was between a car and a trash container when authorities arrived, according to an incident report.
The driver’s side door on Edward’s vehicle was open.
Coroner Kenny Johnson said an autopsy revealed Edwards died from a single gunshot wound to the chest.
Authorities later said robbery may have been a motive in the killing but no one has been charged for the crime.
A public nuisance?
Have the problems at Club Isis caused it to legally become a public nuisance which would allow authorities to close it down?
That is a question the Sheriff’s Office and Solicitor’s Office are working together to try to answer.
Cuthbertson confirmed Thursday that Sheriff Lane Cribb “is working with the Solicitor’s Office on this issue.”
Solicitor Jimmy Richardson said the series of crimes at the club is enough to get the process started.
He said his office has been watching the club for a long time and began talking with Cribb on Wednesday about a possible closure.
He said Cribb says the procedure “is something he is interested in and we promised to help.”
Richardson said the first step is to serve the owners with notice of the process and they will then have 10 days to issue a response indicating steps that will be taken to address the problems.
“After the 10 days we can proceed with the proceedings,” Richardson said, indicating a judge would have to issue an injunction for a closure to actually take place.
“We would have to show how many times police have been called,” Richardson said.
Richardson said it’s possible the notice to the owners could be served in the next few days.
The Georgetown Times spoke with an owner of the club Thursday who said he would return the call. By deadline the call had not been returned.
By Scott Harper
sharper@gtowntimes.com
Club Isis : 1/5/2013
Club Isis should be closed.The violence and criminal activity keeps increasing.Why would any decent community want such an establisment located within it?