HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — A 39-year-old man died from injuries in a barricade situation Sunday night along Highway 17 Business in the Surfside Beach area, according to Horry County Deputy Coroner Patty Bellamy.
Hendrix Washington, 39, was identified as the person who died, and as the person who was barricaded in a room at the Roadside Inn, Bellamy said. Washington was from Charleston but had been living in the Conway area.
An autopsy is scheduled for this week, Bellamy said.
At 11 p.m. Sunday, Horry County police said in a Facebook post that a community member was live-streaming SWAT activity in the area. Darlington Police Chief Jimmie Davis released a statement about the live stream.
“The Darlington Police Department does inform the public of various things via social media, but we do not police through social media,” Davis said. “Don’t subject yourself to possible injury by trying to record an incident. Some people overreact and if you record an incident in which people recognize their family it creates more problems for law enforcement. Recording on the phone is not always the solution. It is absolutely fine when an officer is doing something wrong because checks and balances are important, but you should analyze the situation and make sure that you are a part of the solution and not the problem.”
A Horry County police officer was hit by shrapnel during the overnight barricade situation that blocked Highway 17 Business in the Surfside Beach area for several hours, authorities said.
A statement from SLED’s Public Information Officer Renee Wunderlich said “SLED was requested by the Horry County Police Department to investigate an officer-involved shooting” late Sunday night, and the investigation into the incident is active and ongoing.
The officer was treated at a hospital for minor injuries and released, according to Horry County police. The injury occurred at the start of the incident, but police didn’t provide any additional details.
The incident began before 9 p.m. Sunday and closed Highway 17 Business in both directions near 17th Avenue North for several hours. There was an exchange of gunfire at about 1:30 a.m., and at about 3:15 a.m., police posted on Facebook that the situation had been resolved.
Police confirmed the barricaded subject fired a weapon earlier during the incident.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division will be handling the investigation, which HCPD said is standard protocol for this type of incident.
Horry County police said Horry County Fire Rescue, South Carolina Highway Patrol, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources and Myrtle Beach police assisted in the investigation.
No other details were immediately available. Count on News13 for updates.
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Kevin Accettulla is the digital executive producer at News13. Kevin is from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He joined the News13 team in March 2020 after nearly two years at a sister station in Pennsylvania. Follow Kevin on Twitter and read more of his work here.
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Dennis Bright is a digital producer at News13. Dennis is a West Virginia native and graduate of Marshall University. He has won copyediting and journalism awards in Virginia and Ohio. Follow Dennis on Twitter and read more of his work here.
