One trip to the beach ended up being fatal for one South Carolina beachgoer. It wasn't a shark or dangerous rip tide that claimed her life, but a police vehicle.
In Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, a police officer ran over and killed a woman. They were patrolling in their work vehicle on the beach on Thursday. The department placed them on administrative leave after they ran over one beachgoer. The incident happened near the Nash Street beach access area near the Springmaid Pier around 1:05 p.m. A Horry County Police Ford Ranger Pickup truck ran over the woman.
Following the incident, several beachgoers came to the woman's aid. They attempted to lift the truck off the woman after she was pinned under one of the vehicle's wheels.
"I heard and saw nothing until I heard her scream, and it was the most powerful scream, something that you can't, like, nothing from the movies or anything. It was just pure fear or pain or both," witness Amanda Bilodeau recalled. "Immediately, myself and probably everybody on the beach turned around and just went running."
Currently, The South Carolina Highway Patrol (SCHP) is investigating the accident. According to police, the truck was coming onto the beach from the beach access ramp when it hit the woman.
Beachgoer Dies In South Carolina
Dennis Miller, another bystander, explained that they tried to rescue her. "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 said.
"From my point of view, I had my back turned. I heard somebody yell 'There's somebody that's been run over,'" Miller told WBTW. "We run over here, and yeah, there's a lady on the ground and there's a truck on top of her."
"We hate that anything like that happened, and as far as the lady, we're just so sad for her, too. It's just an unfortunate accident," Miller said. While she ended up going to the hospital, the beachgoers sadly ended up dying from her injuries.
Following the incident, the police department released a statement. They said, "hat occurred on the beach yesterday was a tragedy and we know our community is hurting. We also know our community has questions. We do too. At this time, the officer involved is on administrative leave."
It's actually not the first time that a police vehicle hit beachgoers in Horry County. Another police vehicle struck a person lying on the beach in Garden City in 2020.
