Area high schools held another senior skip day April 12, almost exactly a year after a similar event spawned gunfire, injuries to five people and three arrests. This time, no shots were fired and no one was hurt, but a large contingent of law enforcement officers were on hand to make 11 arrests.
According to Isle of Palms Police Sgt. Matt Storen, students from various high schools in Charleston and Berkeley County began to show up at the IOP beach around noon and “we wrapped up everything at 6:30 p.m.” During that six-and-a-half-hour period, nine adults were arrested on charges ranging from disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, simple possession of marijuana and having an open container of beer or wine in a motor vehicle to possession of a firearm.
One of the juveniles faces a felony drug charge, while the other was charged with unlawful possession of a weapon. Storen said the latter was wearing an ankle monitor and was either on probation or out on bond on an attempted murder charge.
Storen said it was difficult to estimate how many people on the beach were participating in the senior skip day, but he did note that law enforcement officers dispersed a large group of students from Philip Simmons High School. Following the April 7, 2023, incident, the IOP City Council passed an ordinance requiring a permit for gatherings of more than 50 people on public property.
The law enforcement community was prepared for this year’s senior skip day because parents and students contacted the IOP Police Department after plans for the event were posted on social media. Among the entities that helped out were the Charleston County Sheriff’s Department; the Mount Pleasant Police Department; canine, motorcycle and beach patrol officers from the North Charleston Police Department; the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division; the Department of Natural Resources; Charleston County EMS; the Isle of Palms Fire Department; Charleston County Dispatch; the Charleston County Emergency Management Division; and representatives from the Charleston County and Berkeley County school districts.
“It wasn’t the best of beach days, and that worked in our favor,” Storen said. “The beach was extremely windy. You were kind of getting sandblasted out there.”
“It was a successful day,” he added. “Some people might think it was an overreaction, but we’d rather have a plan in place. It’s all about keeping people safe. That’s why we do this.”