MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WIS/WMBF) - A South Carolina man is facing a hate crime charge after allegedly firing a gun near an LGBTQ nightclub earlier this week.

WMBF reports 37-year-old Timothy James Truett, Jr., of Clover, was detained by the Myrtle Beach Police Department after the incident on Wednesday outside the Pulse Ultra Club.

He was later placed under arrest and charged with hate intimidation, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, discharging a firearm into a dwelling, discharging a firearm within the city and damaging property.

An MBPD spokesperson later confirmed Truett is the first arrest under the city’s hate intimidation law, which passed in 2024.[…]

MBPD said officers responded to the club at around 11 a.m. Wednesday, after reports of shots being fired on the 2700 block of South Kings Highway.

In an affidavit that was released later, the club’s owner said he found a window and the windshield of his SUV had been shattered by bullets when he went to leave the club. An SUV with blue plastic over a window was left at the scene.

[…]Police reviewed footage showing a silver-colored vehicle stopping in the middle of the road.

The footage then appeared to show muzzle flashes coming from the passenger-side window of the vehicle. The affidavit states an officer later pulled over a vehicle being driven by Truett and found spent shell casings in the back seat, as well as a gun.