A police officer from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, is on administrative leave after killing a lady on the beach while patrolling in his work car on Thursday morning.
A Horry County Police Ford Ranger Pickup vehicle struck the woman near the Nash Street beach access area near the Springmaid Pier at 1:05 p.m., according to Fox Carolina.
The outlet obtained videos and photographs of several beachgoers swarming around the front of the truck. One witness told the publication that others were attempting to lift the truck off the woman after she was caught by one of the police vehicle’s wheels. “I heard and saw nothing until I heard her scream, and it was the most powerful scream I’ve ever heard, unlike anything in the movies. “It was just pure fear, pain, or both,” witness Amanda Bilodeau said. “Immediately, myself and probably everybody on the beach turned around and just went running.”
The South Carolina Highway Patrol (SCHP) is investigating the accident, according to a Facebook post from the Horry County Police Department. According to SCHP, the woman was hit as the truck drove off the beach access ramp and onto the beach.
Dennis Miller, another bystander, told the outlet that beachgoers attempted to aid the trapped woman. “She was pinned underneath the vehicle, so a bunch of men, we came over, we did our best to lift the car up off her,” he explained. “From my perspective, I had my back turned. “I heard someone yell, ‘There’s somebody who’s been run over,'” Miller said WBTW. “We run over here, and yeah, there’s a lady on the ground and there’s a truck on top of her.”
“We detest that something like that happened, and we’re also really sad for the lady. “It was just an unfortunate accident,” Miller told Fox Carolina. The woman, who has not yet been identified pending notification of her family, was transferred to Grand Strand Medical Center, where she died from her injuries.
This is not the first fatal encounter between a beachgoer and a police car on a Horry County beach. WBTW reports that in 2020, a person was hit by another Horry County patrol vehicle while resting on the beach in Garden City.
According to foxnews from the Horry County Police Department, “what occurred on the beach yesterday was a tragedy, and we know our community is hurting.”
“We also understand that our community has questions. “We do, too,” the department stated. “At this time, the officer involved is on administrative leave.”