The Sheriff’s Office is investigating two shootings that occurred over the weekend on Hilton Head Island. Two people were wounded in each.
Hilton Head Gardens, Friday, July 2, 2021
At approximately 10 p.m., Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to the Hilton Head Gardens apartment complex to a report of a man and a woman wounded by gunfire.
When deputies arrived, they learned that the two were wounded by unknown subjects in the parking lot of the complex.
The gunshot victims were transported to the Savannah Memorial Hospital for treatment. Both have since been released.
The subjects responsible have yet to be identified.
The Oaks, Monday, July 5, 2021
At approximately 4 a.m., deputies responded to the Oaks apartments to a report of a shooting incident with two gunshot victims: a man and a woman.
Deputies learned that the two were inside an apartment when they wounded by bullets fired through the front door.
Deputies also learned that the subject, 27-year-old Francisco Cortes of Bluffton, fled the scene following the shooting.
The wounded man and woman were transported to the Savannah Memorial Hospital, where they were treated and released.
Following interviews of witnesses, investigators met with a Beaufort County magistrate and obtained warrants for Francisco Cortes’s arrest for two counts of Attempted Murder, two counts of Discharging a Firearm into a Dwelling, one count of Possession of a Weapon during the Commission of a Violent Crime and one count of Unlawful Carrying of a Pistol.
Cortes has yet to be located. He should be considered armed and dangerous.
Anyone who has information on Cortes’s whereabouts or either of the shootings is encouraged to contact Sheriff’s Office Dispatch at 843-524-2777, Corporal Andrew Calore at 843-255-3411 or Crime Stoppers of the Lowcountry at 843-554-1111, if wishing to remain anonymous and for possible reward.
The Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office appreciates your partnership in the safety of our community.
