#At least two dead, eight injured in South Carolina nightclub shooting

At least two people were killed and eight injured in a mass shooting early Sunday inside a packed July 4th concert in South Carolina by rapper Foogiano, according to officials.

Two Greenville County sheriff’s deputies were driving past the Lavish Lounge just before 2 a.m. and saw a large crowd running out of the building despite strict local coronavirus restrictions, Sheriff Hobart Lewis said at a press conference.

“They turned into the club, people started screaming — they knew right away that people were injured,” Lewis said, according to WYFF4.

“They heard more gunshots and entered the club,” he said.

At the time, he confirmed eight had been injured, with four in critical condition. The tally was later updated to confirm two dead with eight still in the hospital, officials told the Associated Press.

Trap rapper Foogiano was a widely publicized special guest for the Greenville club’s July 4th party, with Lewish confirming the shooting was during a concert.

The rapper and his team were not injured and were safe, a rep told the AP.

The sheriff said investigators had “some suspect information” and thought the shooting was likely “gang-related.”

“I don’t know if we have multiple shooters at this time, or one that initiated it and one that may have shot back, we’re not sure,” Lewis said.

“There are a lot of shell casings inside.”

He also said there were clear signs that people fled “in a hurry,” with upturned chairs, broken bottles and food all over the floor.

“There’s some pretty large amounts of blood in some parts of the club,” he said.

Investigators are also probing whether the club had applied for special permission to hold the packed event despite Gov. Henry McMaster’s orders banning large gatherings during the coronavirus pandemic.

“We don’t know if they filed an appeal to do that or not,” Lewis said.

“I do know there was a very, very, very large crowd that probably well exceeded that number with very little space for social distancing,” he said.

“I promise you they weren’t six feet apart,” he said. “It’s certainly not the best situation to stop the spread of this virus, for sure.”

McMaster recently reminded locals that the restrictions against large gatherings were still in place. He also said that criminal charges could be pressed if coronavirus cases were later linked to those operating nightclubs illegally or holding concerts even if not caught in the act.

Lavish Lounge did not respond to messages from the AP. A Facebook message just before 6 a.m. that events “have been postponed until further notice.”

With Post wires