Unsolved Carolinas: The Roadside Shooting of Scott Spivey 

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In the early evening hours of September 9, 2023, in rural Horry County, South Carolina, a roadside confrontation ended in a “hail of gunfire.” Following a series of aggressive vehicular maneuvers, two trucks stopped near the intersection of Highway 9 and Camp Swamp Road just south of the Palmetto State’s border with North Carolina. Guns were drawn. More than forty rounds were fired. And Scott Ryan Spivey, a 33-year-old insurance adjuster from Tabor City, N.C., was left slumped over his steering wheel — the fatal bullet having entered through his back.

The men in the other vehicle, Charles Weldon Boyd and Kenneth Bradley Williams, admitted to firing their weapons — and Boyd admitted to firing the fatal shots. The two claimed self-defense and invoked South Carolina’s “Stand Your Ground” law. Thus, their actions were purportedly protected by state law. South Carolina’s ‘Protection of Persons and Property Act,’ holds that individuals have the right to defend themselves with force — even deadly force — without having to retreat if they are attacked.

Law enforcement accepted this explanation with very little investigative effort – and no criminal charges were ever filed.

To this point, the public narrative has been framed by Boyd’s 911 call and – in the absence of a thorough investigation – a wrongful death suit filed by Spivey’s family.  But there were other people at the scene who called 911 — and their eyewitness accounts define the situation differently — with much broader brushstrokes.

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The following summary does not represent the full transcripts of the 911 calls. The audio was analyzed for informational value and the corroboration of timing and landmarks. Since personal identification was redacted, the individual callers are numbered in the order they were received by the 911 dispatch center. 

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‘HE’S JUMPING OUT OF THE TRUCK… OH MY GOD, HE’S SHOOTING’

The route that led to Spivey’s death began at Broadway Billy’s in North Myrtle Beach, S.C. where Spivey spent the afternoon racking up an $89 bar tab. He departed around 5:30 p.m. EDT in his black Chevy Silverado. His final destination was about two miles from the North Carolina border — near the intersection of Highway 9 and Camp Swamp Road. By the time he got to Longs, S.C. – nearly ten miles down the road – he was allegedly swerving dangerously and waving a gun at other drivers. 

When Boyd called 911 for assistance, his call wasn’t the first to report a reckless driver. Another caller was already on the line with a dispatcher clocking the incident in real time — coordinating the movements of those involved with landmarks along Highway 9. The most comprehensive single account of events from that day comes from Caller 1 whose 29-minute call began two minutes prior to Boyd’s. Even so, this caller was not able to see everything that took place because when gunfire erupted she turned around and made her way to a safer location. 

Caller 1 is a woman driving a white Nissan Altima and her call begins on Highway 9 near Little Caesar’s in Longs, S.C. 

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“There is a guy that is waving a gun in front of me, trying to shoot at my car and the other ones beside us,” said Caller 1. “He’s all over the road – and I have his licence plate number.”

“He’s waving it out the window at everybody,” the caller continued. “I don’t know if he’s, um, under the influence of anything because he’s all over the road. He just made one guy run off the road completely and he’s back on the road now. But I’m just, I’m all to hell because I don’t know what this man’s doing.”  

Caller 1 described the vehicle of the man waving the gun and driving erratically to a dispatcher as a black Chevy truck. 

“He’s pointing it out the window trying to shoot this car right now,” said Caller 1.

Approaching Heritage Park two and a half minutes into the call, Caller 1 continued to update the dispatcher on her location.   

“I’m not trying to speed, ma’am, or anything, I’m just, I’m really trying to get away from this guy because I really don’t want him to like shoot me or nothing,” Caller 1 said. “He’s driving reckless. He’s in one lane and there’s two trucks behind him – and he’s back and forth…getting mad, I guess cause of traffic. But he won’t move out of the way.”

At about the same time, Boyd’s call to dispatch began near Marlowe Circle. While it is not known if there was an incident that provoked Spivey’s rage – or exactly where Boyd became involved – according to Caller 1 Spivey ran Boyd off the road prior to Boyd placing a call to 911.

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“I’ve got a guy pointing a gun at me driving,” Boyd told the dispatcher. “We’re armed as well. He keeps throwing the gun in our faces acting like he’s about to shoot us. If he keeps this up, I’m gonna shoot him. I’m on Highway 9.”

Caller 1 confirmed Boyd’s account – and described the gun Spivey had in his possession.

“Do you know what kind of gun it was?” the dispatcher asked Caller 1. “Was it a handgun?”

“Yes, ma’am, a little handgun,” said Caller 1. “Maybe a Glock 19… It looked something similar to that. My dad has one, so that’s kinda similar looking.”

Both calls continued simultaneously as the vehicles advanced northwest on Highway 9 traveling toward Loris. 

“Y’all need to get this guy off the road,” Boyd said in his conversation with dispatch. “He’s aiming guns at people. He racked it. He was about to shoot at us and we pulled our guns out. I don’t know what this dude’s problem is. I’m trailering a fucking couch, and he just pulls up next to us and aims the gun at my fucking friend’s head.”

“He’s about to pull the gun out again,” Boyd continued. “Sir, if this guy aims that gun at me we’re gonna have to shoot him.”

Meanwhile, the other dispatcher continued to gather information from the original caller.

“It’s just that one vehicle that’s involved?” the dispatcher asked Caller 1.

”Yes ma’am, he’s the one causing the destruction right now,” Caller 1 replied. 

“This dude’s fucking nuts,” Boyd continued in his call to the dispatcher. “He’s turning off the road. We’re gonna keep trying to follow him, but if he starts shooting, dude, I don’t know. Alright, so he’s turning on to Camp Swamp Road.” 

Caller 1 confirmed that location simultaneously.

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“He just turned down – what is the road right here?” she asked. “Camp Swamp Road. Okay he is pulled over on the side of the road.”

“He’s stopping. He’s stopping,” Boyd said – three minutes into his call. “Hey, we about to have a fucking shoot out, dude. This dude’s got a gun. He’s got a fucking gun.”

Boyd’s passenger, Williams, is heard yelling in the background. 

“I can’t – I can’t put it in gear!” Boyd said.  

“Oh my God, oh my God, I don’t know what’s going on,” Caller 1 told dispatchers nearly five minutes into her call.

As the situation escalated, so did the fear in her voice.

“He’s jumping out of the truck,” she said. “I’m turning the same way. There is a truck behind him. Oh my God, he’s shooting! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Ma’am, I’ve got to move, I’ve got to move! I’ve got to move!”

On the other call, the dispatcher was attempting to ascertain from Boyd what was transpiring.

“Are you guys shooting?” the dispatcher asked. “Are you guys shooting each other? Hello? Hello? Are you guys shooting each other?”

“He aimed and shot,” Boyd responded. “He held his gun and aimed right at us. Dude, please come help us.”

“Oh my God. Hey, I just pulled off the road – Camp Swamp,” said Caller 1. “Oh my God, I turned off because he hit my car.” 

“Did he shoot at anybody?” the dispatcher asked Caller 1.

“Yes, the truck in front of us,” Caller 1 responded.

“Did you see what kind of clothes – did he get out of the car?” asked the dispatcher. 

“All I seen was the bullet flying off the window,” said Caller 1. “It either ricocheted or he shot it because he hit the truck in front of me, and ma’am, I don’t know if he killed the guy or not because he was firing off off off.  Like I said, I pulled down the road just a little bit because I wanted to turn off. Because once I said, I was like, ‘Oh my God, he shot my car.’ I don’t know if he actually shot it or the bullet ricocheted. I just turned around as fast as possible.”

In the aftermath of the shooting, the driver of another truck – Caller 2 – stopped behind Boyd and placed a call to 911. 

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“Somebody just shot somebody in the middle of the road,” the second caller said. “I am at the corner of Camp Swamp Road, and somebody just unloaded – shot through his windshield and shot this guy. Okay, so a guy got out of the truck — a black truck — he got out of the truck with a pistol drawn — the slide was open. He told the guy, do not follow me anymore. The guy in the white truck had his gun drawn, pointed at him, and, um, the guy in the black truck kind of like moved his pistol and the guy in the white truck just unloaded a complete magazine at the guy — shot through his back window, and I think he might have hit him.”

The dispatcher indicated she was noting the details.  

“Holy shit,” Caller 2 continued. “I was driving by. Bullets were going by my truck. I don’t know who shot first, but I just know that the guy in the white – oh boy, I think they both returned fire at each other.”  

At times during this 911 call, Boyd could be heard in the background talking to Caller 2. 

“He fucking shot at me,” Boyd told Caller 2. “He swung at me on the road. He held a gun out the window. Don’t go up there, man, the dude’s crazy. Did you see him do that?”

Initially, there was some confusion because Spivey could not be seen and his status was unknown. Within a few minutes Boyd approached the black truck and found Spivey dead. 

Shortly thereafter, another witness – Caller 4 – reached 911 and described what he saw as he drove by. 

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“Something doesn’t look right over on Camp Swamp Road, off Highway 9 in Loris,” Caller 4 told dispatchers. “Did somebody call that in already? The person in the truck in the front don’t look alive.”

“It looks like they exchanged fire,” Caller 4 continued. “The person in the black truck does not look alive. I didn’t see any blood or anything, but…  sitting in the driver’s seat, the head in the passenger seat.”

Caller 4 said he did not stop and look, but kept driving home – uncertain about the situation. 

“I wanted to stick around and help out, but I don’t know what the hell’s going on over there,” he said.

Caller 4 concluded the 4-minute call by warning responders to be careful approaching the scene. 

As Caller 1 waited for police to take her statement, she recalled another incident on the same road — and thanked the dispatchers who talked to her through this experience. 

“I’ve already lost a friend on this road because of gun violence, because he got shot in his car,” she said. “It’s like, this is the second time I’ve ever witnessed something like this. And I know you guys deal with this stuff, you know, every day. And I mean, this is two incidents I’ve witnessed, and I’m all to pieces. So y’all are very, very strong hearted. Very brave.”

When all was said and done, Spivey’s route from Broadway Billy’s to the roadside shootout at Camp Swamp Road was 14.73 miles. Caller 1 travelled 5 miles during her 911 call. Boyd travelled 2.25 miles during his.  

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THE INCOMPLETE INVESTIGATION

Charles Weldon Boyd, a 35-year-old Army veteran and Myrtle Beach restaurant owner, admitted to firing the shots that killed Spivey.

In the aftermath of the shooting, Boyd’s behavior was telling and problematic. Instead of relying on transparency, he appears to have leveraged a personal relationship with a high-ranking law enforcement official, Horry County Police Department (HCPD) deputy chief Brandon Strickland.

What followed was an investigation left incomplete — one that mishandled the crime scene and left a slew of unanswered questions that have rightfully frustrated Spivey’s family (and anyone else seeking truth and justice). In recent weeks, the HCPD investigation has itself become the focus of an investigation by the S.C. Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and subsequently two HCPD officers have lost their jobs.

On March 11, 2025, when informed of a pending internal investigation, Strickland resigned — ending a nearly twenty year career with HCPD. 

“The officer resigned when informed of a current Internal Affairs investigation regarding policy violations,” according to separation paperwork (.pdf) on file with the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy (SCCJA). “Upon his resignation, South Carolina Law Enforcement Division was contacted and has a current investigation pending.”

Similarly, Strickland’s employment with Horry-Georgetown Technical College in the pre-academy program came to an end on March 27, 2025.

Weeks later, body worn cameras of the scene revealed that one of the responding officers advised Boyd to “act like a victim.” The advice came in the form of a note printed in black marker and shown to Boyd as officers approached with body worn cameras activated.

As a result, HCPD officer Paul Vascovi was terminated on April 30, 2025.

“Officer Vascovi was terminated for departmental policy violations 3-1 Code of Conduct subsection L-1 Unlawful Conduct and subsection N-1 Conduct Unbecoming. Offiver Vascovi also violated Horry County Government policy 5.9 Section 1-3 Conduct on or off duty that has a negative impact on the County and subsection 43 Conduct that causes embarassment to Horry County,” according to his separation paperwork. (.pdf)

Boyd’s ability to avoid criminal scrutiny didn’t happen in a vacuum. HCPD has a long history of corruption, cover-ups, and compromised leadership, according to its critics. In fact, the department itself was born from scandal. It was created in 1959 after Ku Klux Klan ties and bribery scandals destroyed public confidence in the elected sheriff’s office. But over the years, the new agency inherited the same problems: misconduct swept under the rug, officers quietly resigning in lieu of accountability, and leadership more concerned with optics than justice.

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ROAD RAGE

Faced with a criminal investigation that never meaningfully questioned Boyd’s self-defense claim — and a law enforcement system compromised by personal loyalty — the Spivey family turned to civil court.

There, they filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Boyd and Williams, shifting the fight to a forum where evidence could be demanded, witnesses questioned under oath and the shooters forced to answer in a public forum. Unlike criminal proceedings requiring proof beyond a reasonable doubt, civil court demands only a preponderance of the available evidence.

If authorities refused to hold Boyd and Williams accountable, the Spivey family resolved to do it themselves—on their terms.

From the complaint (.pdf) against Boyd and Williams, a vastly different narrative of the shooting emerged – one largely based on Boyd’s 911 call.

The lawsuit – filed on June 3, 2024 – alleged an altercation involving Spivey, Boyd and Williams occurred in Little River S.C. several minutes prior to the documented interaction with Caller 1. As a result, the suit claimed Boyd became enraged and – in his unlawful pursuit of Spivey – drove dangerously close and fast.

“Spivey was not threatening any specific person nor was there any such imminent threat,” the lawsuit alleged. “Instead of discontinuing their pursuit of Spivey or waiting for law enforcement to intervene, Boyd and Williams continued to chase Spivey along Highway 9 into the Longs Section of Horry County, South Carolina for an extended length of time. Ultimately, after an extended unlawful pursuit, Spivey turned on Camp Swamp Road while Boyd and Williams followed him relaying this information to the 911 operator. Shortly thereafter, shots are fired.”

The response from Boyd and Williams remains the same — they claimed it was a matter of self defense.

Last week, attorneys for the plaintiffs filed a motion to compile the discovery of social media posts, photos and chats from the Facebook accounts of Boyd and Williams dating back to September 9, 2023.

Many potentially incriminating details involving Boyd’s actions before, during and after the shooting have already been documented by reporter Valerie Bauerlein of The Wall Street Journal.

You can listen to all five of the 911 calls here…

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ABOUT THIS SERIES…

In every unsolved case, someone out there could know something that provides a missing link – a critical clue that could bring peace to a family in pain and help them write the next chapter of their stories. Unsolved Carolinas – sponsored by our friends at Bamberg Legal – helps keep stories alive so that victims and their families can see justice done and accountability administered.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…

Callie Lyons is a relentless investigative journalist, researcher, and author known for exposing hard truths with heart and precision. As a journalist for FITSNews, she dives into high-profile and murky cases—like that of Mica Francis Miller— with fearless resolve and a sharp eye for detail, whether it’s tracking white-collar crime, uncovering religious abuse, or examining the often-bizarre behavior of those who believe they’re above the law.

Callie made waves with her groundbreaking 2007 book Stain-Resistant, Nonstick, Waterproof and Lethal, the first to reveal the dangers of forever chemicals, a story that helped inspire the film Dark Waters and influenced global scientific dialogue. Her work has appeared in numerous documentaries, including Toxic Soup, National Geographic’s Parched: Toxic Waters, and more recently Citizen Sleuth, which examines the complexities of true crime podcasting.

Whether she’s navigating environmental disasters or the darker corners of society, Lyons operates with one guiding belief: “Truth never damages a cause that is just.”

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