Just before 11 a.m. on April 1 a shooting occurred at the Pulse Ultra Club in Myrtle Beach, A man in a silver car stopped outside of the property and shot at the windshield and back window of the club owner’s SUV. Camera footage shows the car stopping on a highway with a man’s arm extending out of the passenger window.
The owner of the night club, Ken Phillips explained to ABC news, “I was in my office doing paperwork, and I heard bang, bang, bang, bang, about 5 or 6 shots. So I go to my side door from my office and look outside and didn’t see anything.”
After he heard the shots Phillips called the police and rushed over to his car; that’s when he noticed broken glass on his seats and bullet holes in his door. He later realized that there were also bullet holes near his office window. He told reporters that the event “shook” him and had no idea what the shooter’s motives were.
A few hours after the initial call to the police, Timothy Truitt, Jr. was arrested for the shooting. An officer pulled him over at a traffic stop and noticed a gun and bullet shells scattered across his backseat. Truitt was charged with shooting into a dwelling, shooting within city limits, malicious injury to property, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, and hate intimidation. He is currently in Horry County jail with a bond of $312,000.
Truitt is the first person arrested under the Hate and Intimidation Ordinance in Myrtle Beach. South Carolina is one of the few states without a hate crime law, although Myrtle Beach’s Human Rights Commission drafted the ordinance in 2024.
Many believed that the shooter was anti-LGBTQ+ motivated. Adam Hayes, one of the leaders in the Human Rights Commission is thankful that the law he helped pass was used. “It’s nice to see that something that we put into policy is not just a piece of paper. Secondly, I think it [the shooting] sets a clear example as to why we need a state crime law,” Hayes explained, referring to the lax anti-hate laws in South Carolina.
The ordinance’s goal is “to protect visitors from and to deter crimes motivated by bias or hate towards person or persons… because of the actual or perceived race, color, creed, religion, ancestry, gender, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, physical or mental disability, or national origin…” Now, local authorities and people can use this ordinance to stop hate and violence, like the Pulse Ultra Club shooting.
After the shooting, Phillips said he planned to strengthen his security. “I’ve been in business for 14 years, and my customers and my clientele feel very safe here.”
With the loss of that safety, Phillips is worrying about what’s next. “Whether they know I’m gay and it’s a gay hate crime or whether it’s a community thing, and I was just the only vehicle in the parking lot, either way, it still gives me great concern.”