At least four people were killed and 20 wounded early Sunday in a shooting at a bar in St. Helena Island, South Carolina. Four of those injured are hospitalized in critical condition, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office. Hundreds of people were at Willie's Bar and Grill when the shooting occurred just before 1am, NBC News reports. Victims and witnesses ran to nearby businesses and homes to shelter from the gunfire, the sheriff's office said.
St. Helena Island is considered the largest Gullah community on the South Carolina coast, per the AP. An estimated 5,000 or so residents are descended from slaves who worked rice plantations before they were freed by the Civil War. The victims' names were not released, per ABC News. Officials have not announced any arrests but said a person of interest is being investigated. A cook at Willie's said the shooting happened just outside the bar, per the Island Packet. He said that he saw four bodies and that one victim appeared to be a teenage girl. A man who lives up the road said the gunfire sounded "like a machine gun."