Teenage girl killed, 14 others injured after shooting at ‘unauthorized concert’ in South Carolina

A teenage girl was killed and 14 others were injured after gunfire broke out at an “unauthorized concert” in South Carolina, according to authorities.

North Charleston Police Chief Reggie Burgess said the shooting occurred about 10:30 p.m. Saturday night after an altercation broke out, WCSC reported. There were multiple shooters but Burgess said it is unclear how many people were involved.

More than a dozen people were injured and a 14-year-old girl was killed. She was identified Monday as Ronjanae Smith by the Charleston County Coroner’s Office.

Burgess said the event took place in a grassy field where a stage, tiki bar and snack tent were set up. It was an illegal concert publicized with flyers, which promised there would be a security presence.

Investigators are working to determined if the supposed security officers were involved in the shooting.

“The whole purpose of it was making money, but they made money at the cost of a life,” Burgess said at a news conference Sunday. 

The concert-goers were rushing to their cars when police arrived on scene, making it difficult for officials to determine how many people were in attendance.

“So this was unauthorized. We, law enforcement, had no clue about this. If we would have, we probably [would have] been able to save lives,” he said.

What caused the altercation that led to gunfire is still unclear, according to investigators. 

“Individuals were angry with each other, and they didn’t care who got hit,” the police chief said. 

Burgess encouraged community members with information to reject the notion against “snitching” and cooperate with police.

“But guess what: That doesn’t apply for this. It doesn’t apply for this. Step up and do right by that young lady and those other 14 victims,” Burgess said at a news conference. “See, my father always said to me, ‘You’re not snitching if you’re telling the truth.’ He said, ‘A man that tells the truth is telling the truth, that’s not snitching. Snitching is when you lie on somebody.’ ”