Police in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina arrested 37-year-old Timothy James Truett last Wednesday for allegedly firing multiple gunshots into the Pulse Ultra Club, an LGBTQ+ nightclub. No one was injured in the shooting, according to WIST.

Police arrived at the club around 11 a.m. local time. The club’s owner, Ken Phillips, called authorities after hearing five or six gunshots outside the club. (The club is unaffiliated with the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, where a deadly 2016 shooting occurred.) Police found that the bullets shattered the rear passenger window and windshield of Phillips’ vehicle.

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Security footage revealed that a silver-colored vehicle had stopped in the road, with someone aiming a gun out of its front passenger-side window. A police affidavit said that an officer later pulled over a vehicle matching the one in the video, driven by Truett. The officer also reportedly found bullet shell casings and a gun in the vehicle.

“My primary concern has and always will be the safety of my community and my customers,” Phillips told the aforementioned news outlet. “[The shooting has] given me great concern … as to how far people will go.”

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Truett now faces charges for possession of a weapon during a violent crime, discharging a firearm into a dwelling, discharging a firearm within the city, damaging property, and hate intimidation. It’s unclear why police gave him hate crime charges; they’re often issued when suspects make statements to victims or police demonstrating their bias against specific group demographics.

Truett is now the first person to be arrested under the city’s 2024 “hate intimidation” ordinance, which punishes crimes against anyone’s actual or perceived sexual orientation, gender identity, and other features. The enhancement includes a $500 fine and 30 additional days in jail.

Adam Hayes, vice chair of Myrtle Beach’s Human Rights Coalition who supported the ordinance’s passage, told WMBF, “It’s nice to see that something we put into policy is not just a piece of paper, that it’s actually being used.” He hopes state legislators will consider passing a hate crime law statewide; only 23 states have hate crime statutes that specifically cover sexual orientation and gender identity.

Truett is reportedly being held in J. Reuben Long Detention Center on a $312,174 bond.

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