By HEATHER RUPPE
Colleton County officials are working together to address some residential concerns given to them about criminal incidents occurring near Sure Shots in Walterboro.
About two weeks ago, several Colleton residents spoke to Colleton County Council during a public session regarding their concerns over what they believed was a spike in crime occurring on the grounds of Sure Shots, a pool hall that hosts leagues and tournaments in Walterboro.
Since that meeting occurred, the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office has met with county leaders to address concerns of crime happening at this business. This is confirmed by both administrations.
In recent weeks, the sheriff’s office has also spoken with the owner of the business, Gordon Nettles.
Nettles was not contacted in the first article this newspaper ran, regarding the concerns about crime.
For this follow-up article, Nettles was contacted.
Nettles said on Monday that he is working with county law enforcement to prevent any incidents from occurring at their business. He also hired his own security in July of 2021 and capped his capacity in July of 2021 to reduce the risk of altercations that might happen.
“We are here for our patrons and we are making them safe. We are not a bar. We are not a club. We are a pool hall,” he said, adding that they do serve and sell alcohol on site. “We have had benefit tournaments for our patrons. We have had a team represent Walterboro in the World Pool Championships, where we finished in the top 10 percent in the world.
“We are not a bar,” he said.
According to Nettles and his wife and co-owner, Aubrielle Nettles, his business opened five years ago with full county approval and the approval of neighbors in the immediate area.
“These people were given the opportunity six years ago to voice their concerns. The residents in this area were presented with an opportunity prior to our opening to voice their concerns in a public meeting, and they chose not to,” said Aubrielle Nettles.
Additionally, the Nettles say that the criminal incidents occurring are in their parking lot and not inside their actual business.
During 11 months in 2021, there were approximately 91 documented 911-calls made to the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office regarding Sure Shots. These calls range from traffic violations to noise complaints to assault to standard business checks. In one instance, there was a shooting.
“As for the shooting that occurred (in 2021), those two individuals never once stepped inside our door. That incident would have happened between those two individuals in a Wal-Mart parking lot or anywhere else ... It had nothing to do with us or sure shots. They never even walked inside,” Gordon Nettles said.
Colleton County Councilman Steve Murdaugh recently said in an interview that the county council plans to review ordinances to see what next steps to do regarding this business. Then, county leaders will have a joint meeting with the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office.
There are no specific plans regarding this business at this time.
In the month of January to date, there have been three documented 911-calls made to the sheriff’s office regarding Sure Shots: one was a stolen car, where the female owner of the car left her keys in the car and left it running in the business’ parking lot, and the other two were nuisance calls.
