Woman fatally hit by police car on South Carolina beach

A woman was killed after being hit by a police vehicle on a beach in South Carolina on Thursday.

The Horry County police officer, who remained anonymous, has been placed on leave, CBS News affiliate WBTW reported.

The unidentified woman was eastbound on Nash Street in the Myrtle Beach area around 1 p.m. Thursday. The officer, driving a 2020 Ford Ranger pickup truck, approached from the north and struck the woman.

The woman was taken to Grand Strand Regional Medical Center, where she died, WBTW reported.

The incident is still under investigation, Horry County police said. The South Carolina Highway Patrol is leading the investigation.

“What happened on the beach yesterday was a tragedy and we know our community is hurting,” the department said in a statement, WBTW reported. “Our condolences go out to everyone affected by this loss. We also know our community has questions. We do, too.”

Denis Miller, who was on the beach at the time of the incident, told WBTW he saw the aftermath of the collision.

“From where I was standing, I had turned around. I heard someone screaming, ‘Someone got hit,'” Miller said. “We ran over here and yes, there was a woman on the ground and a truck on top of her.”

This is the second such incident in Horry County in recent years. A woman was struck by a Horry County Police patrol car on the beach in Garden City in 2020. The woman survived, WBTW reported at the time.

end of May Florida police sergeant was cited for reckless driving after he struck two beachgoers with his patrol car. The two young women were sunbathing near a row of hotels in Daytona Beach at the time. Both women were taken to the hospital.

Florida-based personal injury law firm McQuaid & Douglas states on its website that there have been at least 20 reports of beach patrol cars Sun worshippers run over in recent years.