Early morning shooting at Myrtle Beach hotel prompted by woman’s fear of being followed

A woman who believed she was being followed outside a Myrtle Beach hotel fired randomly in the person’s direction early on the morning of July 10.

A city police officer who responded to the Budget Inn Motel at 501 N. Ocean Blvd. around 4 am after reports of a weapon being dumped, WPDE News 15 reported, citing an incident report.

According to the narrative, the victim said she went to the beach around 3:30 am to spread a family member’s ashes and noticed a person passing her at an access point.

After setting his bicycle on a nearby podium he began to “rapidly follow” the woman back to her motel, the WPDE reported citing the police report.

The woman saw another person in the motel’s pool area gathering toys and signaled for her to return to her room as she headed to the back of the building.

That’s when the woman reportedly saw a man approaching her from a rear hallway. She fled up a nearby staircase, and the man nearly tripped due to his rate of speed.

The woman saw him retrieve a handgun from his pants pocket and point it at her, according to the WPDE’s description of the police report. That’s when she reached for her own handgun and shot in the person’s vicinity.

The woman described him as about six feet tall and wearing black shoes and a dark blue shirt.

The investigation remains ongoing.

Anyone with information should contact the Myrtle Beach Police Department non-emergency number at 843-918-1382 and reference case number 23-011893.