Afghanistan. Iraq. Walterboro. You knew about the first two warzones. Better add the Boro as a third. Walterboro has about 5 thousand people. Over the last week, at least ten people have been shot here, three fatally. The Boro is abuzz with the latest round of shooting. The Charleston Post and Courier reports that in addition to the efforts of the Walterboro Police Department and the Colleton County Sheriff's Office, that the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED), police from Charleston and Richland (home of Columbia, the Capital of S.C.) Counties, the SC Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services, the U.S. Department of Arms, Tobacco and Firearms, and the U.S. Marshal's Office have been participating in trying to get this mess straightened out. The recent spate of violence has put Walterboro in the news in Charleston, Palmetto State National Public Radio, and even the Savannah, Georgia, news. See? This video even features my daughter, Caroline, and her friend, Quentin: There are a lot of note-worthy things about my Town: it's a pretty place with a lot of nice amenities for such a small town; a lot of the people are really great; the weather is quite nice. I've commented on Walterboro's fascination with guns before, but, really, guys, can't we all just get along?
'Course, Gandhi, MLK, Jr., and even John Lennon all got shot, too, didn't they?
8 comments:
So, so sad AND scary! Stay safe!! fdb
You know me, Frandy: tough as nails! I used to think I'd always be okay, because I generally end up representing the people accused of doing the killing. Now? I'm not sure. Generally, it's gangs and drug dealers killing each other, and I'm not involved with either. Still, one of the victims this time around was a 20 month old baby girl.
Violence and ugliness aside, Caroline's a cutie pie. I can see the resemblance too!
Thanks, Col.
From the outside, the violence in many parts of the South really is amazing. Can't tell you how may murders I covered living in Sparkle City ... I think it's the heat.
Interesting observation, Chase. Sister Helen Prejean- author of Dead Man Walking and speaker at the Public Defender's Conference this year- opined at the conference that State supported violence, in the form of the death penalty, was most pervasive in the eleven former slave-holding states. Interesting hypothesis, and may well account for, or contribute to, a culture of violence in those states generally.
Very interesting indeed ... I can tell you a murder when I worked in Tampa/St. Pete had to be really something special to even merit a mention in the big paper, outside of the regional county section ... here, someone gets killed, it's top story ... Interesting theory on the death penalty, or are state leaders who support the death penalty merely bowing to a violent populace? I think it's probably also tied to education rates and poverty
...which also might be tied to the vestiges of the slave culture. Or not. Maybe it has to do with membership in the Southeastern Conference. All states with an SEC team are in the bottom half in obesity and bad health, according to an article I saw in Yahoo News today.
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