BEAUFORT — The Beaufort County sheriff is answering questions from reporters about the weekend mass shooting on St. Helena Island in which at least eight people were shot, including four who died. A dozen others were injured during the violent episode at Willie’s Bar and Grill on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.

The celebration, billed as for alumni of a local high school on homecoming weekend, began on Oct. 11 and carried into the early hours of Oct. 12, when shots erupted outside the security barrier of the establishment just before 1 a.m.

This is the first time Sheriff P.J. Tanner is answering questions publicly about the investigation.

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