As the clock struck 1:30 a.m. Sunday morning, the investigation into the shooting that claimed four lives and injured 16 others on St. Helena Island entered its fifth week, with no suspects in custody and a laundry list of unanswered questions.
Stuck in a “holding pattern,” Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner said that “final pieces” of evidence are still being processed with local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, but his department is getting “a lot closer to bringing charges” against individuals involved in the shooting and possibly others involved in “spin-off cases” as a result of the probe.
By next week, Tanner anticipates the department will have what they are waiting for from the state’s law enforcement division, which is processing ballistic evidence. Tanner has not answered questions about what kinds of weapons were used, but acknowledged during a press conference that machine gun use in Beaufort County has become a big problem…