SC gun store owner wanted to ‘prank’ his friend. He shot and killed him with a real gun
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A Berkeley County gun store owner intended only to pull a prank when he accidentally shot and killed a friend inside the store last month, according to an arrest warrant obtained by The State.
An arrest warrant issued by the Berkeley County sheriff’s department sheds more light on the shooting that killed a 36-year-old man inside the Charleston-area gun store last month.
Sheriff’s deputies charged store owner Jon Whitley, 59, with involuntary manslaughter on Nov. 29. The warrant details how the deadly shooting unfolded.
Deputies allege the owner of Coastal Firearms on Cainhoy Road “brought a replica Glock BB gun into the store and placed it among other real firearms with the intent of pranking his friend.”
When Stefan Mrgan entered the store on Nov. 2, he chatted amiably with Whitley, according to a witness to the shooting. Whitley then pointed a Glock at Mrgan and shot him in the face, killing him.
“The Defendant mistakenly picked up a real firearm instead of the replica,” the warrant says.
Whitley, who the warrant identifies as “arguably a firearms expert,” was not arrested when emergency personnel and law enforcement responded to the scene of the shooting, but was later charged because “The Defendant’s actions, although accidental, were wanton, reckless, without regard for the safety of the victim and constitute a departure from common firearm safety practices.”
Whitley was booked into the Berkeley County Detention Center on a $15,000 bond. A records search Monday showed he was no longer being held.
This story was originally published December 20, 2021 at 11:44 AM.
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