Margarita25, this article seems deja vu of the Gaffney, SC spree killer. Of all the serial cases that I have ever followed, the Gaffney case was the most transparent. All info, including 3D colored sketch and vehicle description was shared by SLED and the local Sheriff with the SC citizens in real time to keep them aware and informed. This is a snippet from the Gaffney article;
Just after 2:30 a.m. Monday, a man on Dallas Spencer Mountain Road northeast of Gastonia called local police after he saw a Ford Explorer pull into the driveway across the street from his house.
The man, Mike Valentine, saw the SUV and was concerned the vehicle might be connected to the killer. Gastonia is about 40 miles north of Gaffney just off Interstate 85 and Valentine knew what kind of vehicle police were searching for.
Three police officers arrived and found three people in the older-model Ford Explorer outside the home. Two were identified by Charlottes NewsChannel 36 as Mark Stamey, 35, and his sister, Sharon Stamey, 31. The Stameys told the officers they had lived in the house.
Valentine said the Stameys got out of the car, along with a second man.
He was a large man, Valentine said. He was stumbling around like he was really drunk.
Valentine said the Stameys told the police it was their house, and they had come to collect some things. Valentine said he walked across the street and told the police officer there was no electricity at the house and questioned why the three were there..
Police said they had asked the three people in the Ford Explorer for identification, and one of them gave false identification initially. Gaston County police said they eventually got the third persons correct name, and when they ran a check, discovered he was wanted by authorities in a neighboring county.
When they tried to take him into custody, police said, the man now believed to be Burris fired, hitting officer J.K. Shaw in the leg. Police said they fired back, killing the man.
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RELIEF IN GAFFNEY, SC
Early Monday evening in Gaffney, folks at Daddy Joes, a popular downtown barbecue spot, were glad to hear the news the killer had been killed.
Gene Wyatt, 35, a housing contractor, said hes really glad this guy got killed because he hasnt been able to go to peoples houses to do estimates.
People dont want me there, he said.
With a killer on the loose, people, wondering if they might be next, changed their behavior.
Everybody I know 75 percent of all my friends were all carrying weapons now, everywhere we go, Cody Sossaman, 57, publisher of the Gaffney Ledger, said early Monday before police announced they had shot and killed the alleged assailant.
Sossaman lifted a black .38 Special out of his office desk drawer and said he was in the process of sending his wife and daughter out of town.
When I went golfing over the weekend, a friend of mine carried a gun in his golf cart, said Sossaman, who for the first time in its 115 years bolted his newspapers front doors Monday during daylight hours and put this sign up: Due to Current Circumstances, The Front Door is Locked. Knock for Service.
Such fears were reasonable.
Police behavior science experts said the killers profile had indicated he might kill again, SLED director Reggie Lloyd said early Monday. SLED had more than 40 agents on the case, Lloyd said.
We dont believe he is going to stop on his own, Lloyd said. This one is scary.
By late Monday afternoon, there was a sense Gaffneys widespread fears might be lifted with news that a man shot to death before dawn in Gastonia might have been the Gaffney assassin who had been striking seemingly at random.
Ohhhhhhhhh! gasped a crowd of more than a dozen Gaffney area folks at Daddy Joes shortly after 5 p.m. A Spartanburg news show had just flashed a shot of the dead mans brown-gray Ford Explorer on a wall-mounted television screen.
Daddy Joes bar patrons included women who were packing pistols in their purses for the first time in their lives.
Im telling you what people are just scared to death! said Kim Blanton, 49, a fourth-grade teacher who had a loaded .32-caliber pistol in her purse. No, she said, she doesnt have a permit to carry a concealed weapon and she doesnt care.
Blanton said she lives alone, but recently she either has been spending the night with friends or having a girlfriend over to her house to sleep. My friend, she had a gun, too, Blanton said.
The dread of being the next victim had caused the staff at Daddy Joes to change a lot of things they do, said general manager Rea Smiley, 44.
Everyone is just kind of sticking together and being safe, said Smiley, describing how her employees have not walked out to their cars alone at night. We all walk out together. We dont want to, but were not being stupid.
Yes, Smiley said, she keeps a gun close these days. I havent even gone to the bathroom without it.
Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/news/local/article14344643.html#storylink=cpy
