Man Captures Mass Shooting On Facebook Live: ‘There’s Multiple People Been Shot!’
A man inadvertently captured a mass shooting live on Facebook this week after a traffic jam turned deadly in South Carolina. The incident reportedly occurred in Myrtle Beach early Sunday after a fight broke out among several men, one of whom pulled a gun and opened fire. Seven people were reportedly hospitalized as a result of the event.
“If you’re watching this, stay away from Fourth Avenue North and Ocean Boulevard,” Bubba Hinson, who captured the video, said during the Facebook Live stream. “There’s multiple people been shot!” The video, which has since gone viral and is still available on the site, had well over 4 million views on Facebook as of Tuesday evening.
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In response to the incident, a Facebook spokesperson told International Business Times in a statement that the company “has long been a place where people share their experiences and raise awareness about important issues.”
“Sometimes, those experiences and issues involve violence and graphic images of public interest or concern,” the statement said. “In many instances, when people share this type of content, they are condemning it or raising awareness about it. However, when they are shared for sadistic pleasure or to celebrate or glorify violence, we remove them.”
Facebook told IBT that the video has been flagged and marked as “disturbing.” Facebook says that it considers the context in which violent or graphic images are shared before deciding how to move forward. The site notes that when any such content is shared to condemn or raise awareness about a particular event or topic, Facebook may mark it as disturbing — as was the decision in Hinson’s case.
When a video is marked as disturbing, the content is visible only to users who are 18 and older and the platform does not allow autoplay. Users must actually click on the video to make it play.
Read: Can Families Sue Facebook For Violent Videos Of Victims?
The News and Observer reported Sunday that police responded to Fifth Avenue North and Ocean Boulevard at roughly 12:25 a.m. local time to break up a crowd that had gathered. A fight reportedly occurred between several men nearby, at which point one of the individuals reportedly pulled out a gun and opened fire.
According to Myrtle Beach Online, the shooter fired multiple rounds before fleeing the scene by carjacking a vehicle; he was apprehended “within a few hours” of the incident. The site reported Sunday that local police planned to make his identity public once an arrest warrant was served.
Seven people, including the shooter, were hospitalized with injuries that were not life-threatening.
“No officers were shot or injured as a result of this incident,” Police Lt. Joey Crosby said in a statement Sunday. “The security officer did receive a graze wound to the leg. The injury did not require him to be transported to the hospital and he received medical attention on scene.”
According to the News and Observer, Hinson is a volunteer firefighter who was visiting the resort town for the SC Fire-Rescue Convention. Hinson told the paper that he began streaming the crowd because he “thought they were dancing.”
He added, “Then, they started fighting. Then, they started shooting.”
“I always wanted a viral video,” Hinson told the News and Observer, “but I never wanted it to be like this.”
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