Update: Man cut himself with machete, threatened two people, police at Westwind apartments

A 29-year-old man was taken into police custody after threatening two people and responding officers with a machete on Saturday at a Myrtle Beach apartment complex.

Officers received a call about a disturbance at 8 a.m. Saturday morning at Westwind apartments on Pridgen Road, near 13th Avenue South. When police arrived on scene, the man, identified as Joshua Curt Floyd, also threatened them, Lt. Joey Crosby, spokesman with Myrtle Beach police, said.

Once the officers were threatened, they set up a perimeter and called for backup. Search and arrest warrants were obtained, and multiple agencies, including South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, Horry County Fire Rescue, and a SWAT team were called to the scene, and blocked part of Pridgen Road for hours during the investigation, police said.

“They [officers] felt it was best to retreat for their safety and also to make sure the public was safe as well,” Crosby said.

Police broke down the apartment door, and the 6-foot-6 Floyd was taken into custody without a struggle, Crosby said. Floyd was transported to Grand Strand Regional Medical Center for evaluation in connection with unrelated treatment, and no one was injured during the incident, authorities said.

The authorities were called after an argument regarding drugs being stolen from Floyd, according to a police report. Floyd reportedly chased a man outside with a machete, and proceeded to cut himself on his arms and stomach before police were called.

Westwind resident Patrice Richards said she was taking her two children, ages 3 and 6 to ride bicycles outside when they saw officers on scene with guns out.

“It scared me,” she said.

Her youngest child cried because he was afraid. Richards has only lived at the apartment complex for one month, and said she moved there to get away from violence she encountered while living at Third Avenue South. She doesn’t plan on moving again because she was told another security camera would soon be installed at the complex, but said she would also feel more comfortable if police had a stronger presence patrolling the area.

“I just want it to stop ... especially with my babies seeing this,” she said and added she feared her children would grow up thinking violence is normal.

“That’s [violence] not what we want for the community. We want everyone to be like, you know, uplifting in each other, not all this violence. That’s just sad,” Richards said.