A shooting in a South Carolina nightclub left two people dead and eight wounded in what local investigators call an alleged ‘gang related’ incident.
Video footage posted on social media shows people in what appears to be a rap concert inside the Lavish Lounge club in Greenville on Sunday morning.
The clip shows people inside the club running towards the exit before the screen goes blank and shots are heard in the background.
Two Greenville County sheriff’s deputies noticed a riot at the Lavish Lounge just before 2 a.m. and saw a large crowd rush out of the building, Sheriff Hobart Lewis said at a news conference.
Lewis told Greenville News that the incident was “probably gang related.” He said authorities are looking for two suspects, although no physical description of the gunmen has been released until Sunday morning.
Video footage posted on social media shows people in what appears to be a rap concert within the club
The clip shows people inside the club running towards the exit before the screen goes blank and shots are heard in the background
Lewis said there was a “very, very large crowd” inside at the time of the shooting.
“There are a lot of cases inside,” said Lewis.
‘Everything is overturned, there are some chairs there, food on the floor, some broken bottles.
It shows that someone left in a hurry. There are some fairly large amounts of blood.
There were “active shots fired from inside the building,” Lt. Jimmy Bolt said in an initial statement, and Lewis said all the shots were fired inside.
Lewis and Bolt initially said 12 people had been injured, with at least four critically ill, Lewis said, but Bolt later told WYFF-TV that the death toll had been revised.
A phone call and text message to Lewis and an email to Bolt from The Associated Press seeking clarification were not immediately answered.
No one was immediately arrested.
Earlier Sunday, the sheriff’s office had “some suspicious information,” but was not sure if there were multiple shooters.
“We really don’t have a person of interest that we can name,” Lewis said, adding later that authorities were unsure of what led to the shooting.
The names and precise conditions of the victims were not immediately disclosed.
Lewis said the victims were taken to Prisma Health Hospital in Greenville, some in a private vehicle.
Prisma Health spokeswoman Tammie Epps was unable to immediately comment when contacted by phone.
Lewis said there was a “big crowd” at the club for “some kind of concert.”
A shooting at a South Carolina nightclub left two people dead and eight wounded, a sheriff’s official said.
A post on the Lavish Lounge Facebook page announced a July 4 performance by rapper Foogiano.
A direct message from the AP’s Instagram was not immediately answered, but a booking representative told the AP by text message that Foogiano was fine and that his team was safe.
The nightclub is about 5 miles southwest of downtown Greenville, in the northern region of the state of South Carolina.
Coronavirus cases in South Carolina have increased rapidly and the state’s rate of positive results is three times higher than the recommended level.
In late June, Greenville, which has experienced some of the highest COVID-19 rates in the state, became the first city to require coverage in South Carolina, where Governor Henry McMaster refused to implement a mask requirement in the entire state.
McMaster reminded South Carolinians last week that he had not lifted restrictions on large crowds, and that those who operate nightclubs illegally or perform concerts against their orders do not have to be caught on the spot to face criminal charges. They could be charged weeks later if the COVID-19 cases go back.
Police cars are seen upstairs near the area where the shooting occurred in Greenville, South Carolina, early Sunday morning
A phone call and direct message from the AP’s Instagram to Lavish Lounge were not immediately answered, but the club posted on Facebook just before 6 am that the events “have been postponed until further notice.”
Lewis said at the press conference that he did not know whether the club had applied for a waiver from the governor’s order or had obtained a permit for Saturday night’s event, but said it was clear that the club’s sponsors were not 6 feet away.
“It certainly is not the best situation to stop the spread of this virus,” said the sheriff.
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