COLUMBIA, S.C. — A business owner from Beaufort County is grappling with significant challenges after a mass shooting occurred at his venue.

On Monday, a court hearing in Columbia resulted in a judge’s decision to suspend the business licenses of the owner.

Willie Turral, who owns the bar and grill where the tragic shooting on St. Helena took place earlier in October, reported that he received a letter on November 12 from state authorities. The letter urgently informed him of the immediate suspension of his business licenses.

During a Friday press conference organized by the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office to provide updates on the investigation, Turral directly addressed Sheriff PJ Tanner. He accused the sheriff of targeting both him and his establishment.

Sheriff PJ Tanner responded to the concerns raised by the business owner.

“Look, the bottom line is, we’re going to put you out of business.”

Willie ended up leaving the room and speaking to moments later outside of the Sheriff’s Office Headquarters.

“How do we jump from somebody committing a crime on public property to just saying we’re going to close the business that was terrorized by the crime? It’s unheard of,” Turral said.

Turral also said on Friday that he would be fighting against the removal of his licenses.

“Were definitely going to contest being used as a scapegoat for this crime,” he said.

But in the scheduled hearing today in Columbia, Turral did not show face. The judge in charge of the case contested the hearing to get in contact with the bar and grill owner.

“He was unable to locate counsel and did not plan to appear and would accept whatever ruling I made,” the judge said after speaking to Turral.

In the courtroom instead was the South Carolina Department of Revenue, and South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) and Beaufort County investigators who took the stand.

Both the state and county investigators sided with each other on revoking Willies licenses to prevent what they called “continued threats to the community.”

The emergency revocation Turral was served by the state came at request of SLED after the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office sent a referral letter to the law enforcement division.

“This letter from the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office deemed that Willie’s was a public nuisance and that there was a continued fear that the property, if there was continued to have an alcohol license, would be a threat to the public health and safety of the community,” said a SLED investigator who took the stand on Monday.

The sheriff’s office pointed to over 400 reports of problems at the bar location in the last 10 years.

Among those reports were shots fired, drunken behavior, weapons, and breaking and entering.

Turral began leasing the business location in December of 2023.

Investigators also found Turral did not have a Local Option Permit (LOP) liquor license, which allows businesses to sell liquor on Sundays, and more specifically after midnight.

Investigators said they have evidence to show that Turral was selling liquor at the time of the shooting in the early morning hours of Oct. 12, where four people died and 15 others were injured.

After investigator testimonies, the attorney with the Department of Revenue made his final statements to the judge.

“Obviously there’s a problem here and it needs to be addressed,” the attorney said. “And the only way that we can ensure that we don’t have a repeat incident like this is to at least eliminate something that may be bringing these large cracks, which of course, is the alcohol.”

The attorney said they are not looking to shut Willie’s business down completely, but to ban liquor sales from the establishment.

The judge ruled that Willies’ licenses would remain suspended until decided otherwise.