'My friend's been shot and killed': 911 calls detail the night restaurateur was shot to death

One of the two people who were at the house where a Bluffton restaurateur was shot in the head and killed Oct. 28 told a 911 dispatcher he believed the bullet came from a golf course behind the house at 39 Pinecrest Way, according to recordings of two calls released Tuesday.

The 911 calls, released following a Freedom of Information Act request by The Island Packet, came moments after the bullet hit Johnathan Cherol.

The first call, one minute and eight seconds long, was made by a man who eventually hung up on the dispatcher.

"What's going on there?" a dispatcher asked.

"I don't know, there's been a shooting," the caller said. "I'm not outside."

"Who is shooting?" the dispatcher asked.

"Someone has been shot," the caller said.

The call continued with questions from the dispatcher about how old the victim was and if he was male or female.

"OK. Where has he been shot at?" the dispatcher said.

"Lady, I don't know where he's been shot," the caller said.

"I do have someone enroute," the dispatcher said. "Are the suspects there?"

The caller hangs up without answering.

A second call, which lasted five minutes and 31 seconds, came moments later.

"My friend has been shot and killed," a man said. "It's Pinecrest, 39."

" ... OK, and who is there now?" the dispatcher asks.

"Me and his roommate," the man said.

"OK, and you said he was shot?" the dispatcher said.

"Yeah. We were sitting outside, and he got shot in front of me."

The caller said Cherol had been shot in the head and that there were three people at the residence when at least two shots rang out.

"Is the suspect there?" the dispatcher asked.

"I don't know. We were sitting outside and someone shot. ... We didn't see anybody."

Several seconds of the call were cut by the police department before the recordings were released because they contained the caller's name and phone number, department spokeswoman Joy Nelson said Tuesday.

When the call resumes, the dispatcher again asks whether there is a suspect in the area.

"OK, sir, you said you were sitting outside," the dispatcher said. "You didn't see any suspects or anything?"

"No. We were sitting out back," the caller said.

"Did you see any vehicles or anything that came around?" the dispatcher asked.

"No they (the shots) came from outside by the driving range."

The dispatcher asks if Cherol is breathing.

The caller said he was not. He goes on to provide a graphic description of the wound.

The dispatcher then asks what color the house is.

The caller, apparently turning to the other person on the scene, says, "Roberts, what color is the house. It's 39, right?"

The dispatcher then alerts patrol officers and EMS and tells the caller that police are on their way.

"And it was just you there at the residence?" the dispatcher asks the caller.

"No. His roommate was at home in bed, and me and John Cherol were sitting outside."

The dispatcher then asks how many people were at the residence.

"Three," he replied.

"And no one saw anyone?" the dispatcher asks.

"No. We were sitting out there in the dark in the back because there's a driving range out back. We heard gunshots, and then two shots were fired."

The caller then speaks to someone else at the scene.

Officers arrived around 12:45 a.m.

They found Cherol dead of a single gunshot wound, Lt. Joseph Babkiewicz said earlier in a news release.

Nelson, the police spokesman, declined Tuesday to release further information on either the calls or the progress of the investigation.

"At this time, the Bluffton PD is not releasing anymore information regarding this investigation. It's an ongoing investigation. ... As soon as we are able to release more information, we will gladly do so," Nelson said.

When asked to speak to Police Chief Joey Reynolds, Nelson said the chief was also not releasing any information.

Since the shooting, police have been largely silent beyond saying they believe Cherol's death was the result of a "targeted attack" rather than a random one.

Cherol was involved in the local restaurant scene and was co-owner of the recently closed Pepper's Old Town in Bluffton.

The May River Road restaurant had opened in early 2015 as a revamp of the original Pepper's Porch, replacing another restaurant that was also co-owned by Cherol, called Jack's Old Town.

This story was originally published November 18, 2015 at 11:20 AM with the headline "'My friend's been shot and killed': 911 calls detail the night restaurateur was shot to death."