Four killed in early Sunday mass shooting that injured more than two dozen
By Mike McCombs and Amber Hewitt
The Island News
Amos Gary wasn’t perfect, his brother said. But the 54-year-old St. Helena man, who had made some poor choices when he was younger, had committed to being a better man.
“Some people know about my brother’s past life,” Johnny Williams said. “Like I said, he had made [bad] choices while he was younger and he had his recompense for that. He changed his life and he was going to be a better man.”
Gary was about to propose to his girlfriend. He had bought an engagement ring on Saturday, Oct. 11. The next day, he was set to take his two young sons fishing with another brother and his son.
He never got the chance.
Gary was one of four people killed early Sunday morning, Oct. 12, 2025, in a mass shooting on St. Helena Island.
Along with Gary, according to Chief Deputy Coroner Shane Bowers, pronounced dead on the scene at Willie’s Bar and Grill at 7 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive at 12:49 a.m., of gunshot wounds were:
— Kashawn Glaze, a 22-year-old man from Beaufort;
— Chiraad Smalls, a 33-year-old man from Beaufort; and
— A’shan’tek Milledge, a 22-year-old woman from Burton.
According to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) on Sunday, four more victims were transported to Beaufort Memorial Hospital with critical injuries, while at least 20 more people were injured.
It is unclear how many of those people were shot, and those numbers may have changed since the last update. (Sheriff P.J. Tanner announced an 11 a.m. Wednesday press conference prior to press time.)
According to the BCSO, in addition to victims transported by Beaufort County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) to the hospital, more victims continued to show up on their own at area hospitals seeking medical attention from injuries sustained at the scene.
What happened?
According to sources, the crowd at Willie’s Bar and Grill was so large, maybe approaching 300 people, as a result of a class reunion event for Battery Creek High School alumni.
Bar owner Willie Turral was inside the establishment, he told media outlets, when he heard shots going off “in bursts” outside, indicating there was “machine-gun” fire.
According to the BCSO, just before 1 a.m., Sunday, the Communications Center received multiple reports of a shooting.
The BCSO said in a release that upon arriving at the scene, deputies made contact with a large crowd of people, with numerous people suffering from gunshot wounds. Multiple victims and witnesses ran to nearby businesses and properties seeking shelter from the gunshots, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Williams, whose family chose him to speak for them, said that while his brother was working “security” at the restaurant, Gary was not a part of a security company or anything of the sort. He had no badge and was unarmed. He was essentially a bouncer.
“He was getting paid under the table,” Williams said. “And … it was pretty much a friend of a friend asking [him to] work security, and he said ‘yeah.’”
According to Williams, Gary was outside of the door of the club near the patio when the shooting started.
“The club [was at] max capacity, they were not letting any more people inside of the main building, … but there were people outside on the patio area in front of [the establishment]. … When the shots started ringing out, my brother was trying to get people out of the way, trying to push them all the way [down], trying to get them into the building.”
Williams, whose younger sister was also at the establishment, said Gary was hit multiple times, but due to adrenaline, “he didn’t even realize, he was still trying to save lives.”
Eventually, he succumbed to his injuries and died where he fell.
Williams said this tragedy should have never happened.
“With the amount of people there, the amount of people at the event outside of that club, they should’ve at least had EMS on site,” Williams said. “There should’ve been an off-duty officer or a uniformed on-duty officer posted nearby, across the street maybe, due to the amount of people there.”
The investigation
According to the BCSO, the circumstances of the incident are still under investigation, and the BCSO is investigating persons of interest. An updated release on Monday afternoon, however, offered no real developments.
As of press time Tuesday evening, there had been no arrests related to the shooting. But law enforcement may have begun to zero in on people they believe were involved.
Early Monday afternoon, the BCSO arrested 26-year-old Anferny Devon Freeman of St. Helena Island. He was charged with breach of peace, aggravated in nature; and unlawful storage or possession of a machine gun or a sawed-off shotgun or rifle.
According to BCSO spokesperson Lt. Daniel Allen, Freeman was arrested on outstanding warrants after a traffic stop. The charges, he said, are unrelated to the St. Helena shooting but are instead linked to a 2024 case.
However, sources close to law enforcement told The Island News that authorities believe he is tied to this case and “several people identified Freeman that night at the scene.”
While Allen told The Island News that Freeman’s Monday charges were unrelated, he would neither confirm nor deny that Freeman was a person of interest.
Freeman bonded out of the Beaufort County Detention Center at 12:20 p.m., Tuesday.
Williams said he had spoken with a Sheriff’s Office investigator.
“I have cooperated with him and forwarded any information that I have directly to him,” he said. “Besides that, I don’t believe I’m at liberty to say anything else that I know.”
Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact Investigator Master Sergeant Duncan at 843-255-3418. The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office encourages the community to report suspicious and criminal activity by calling our non-emergency dispatch line at 843-524-2777.
If wishing to remain anonymous, tips can be submitted to Crime Stoppers of Beaufort County via the P3 Tips app on your mobile device, online at tipsbft.com, or by calling 844-TIPS-BFT (844-847-7238).
More questions than answers
In its initial release, the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office issued a statement about the shooting.
“This is a tragic and difficult incident for everyone. We ask for your patience as we continue to investigate this incident,” the release said. “Our thoughts are with all of the victims and their loved ones.”
They also thanked the other agencies and first responders that assisted the night of the shooting.
Meanwhile families of the victims, as well as the community at large, are struggling to understand what happened, while having little information about why it happened and grieving over who and what was lost.
Williams said his brother was just trying to make a little extra money that night.
“A lot of people called my brother Gentle Giant,” Williams said of Gary. “He was very family oriented and he was a father. He loved life, he loved to make people laugh. He was by no means a perfect man, but in the later years of his life, he was trying to turn his life around for the better, not only for himself but for his sons that he left behind. He died a hero.”
Editor’s note: According to the Gun Violence Archive, a mass shooting is defined as any incident where four or more people are shot.
Mike McCombs is the editor of The Island News and can be reached at TheIslandNews@gmail.com.
