IN SPORTS: Robert E. Lee hosts Generals, Barons take on OP in season openers B1 THE CLARENDON SUN
Santee Wildlife Refuge to offer fall migration events A8 THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 2015
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Conyers Street incident ends peacefully Son allegedly assaulted mother BY KONSTANTIN VEGNEROWSKY konstantin@theitem.com A man held up in a home on Conyers Street left peacefully Wednesday after a Sumter Police Department tactical team
deployed officers and a robot to observe the residence and a flash-bang explosive to provide cover for them to LYLES enter the home. Police apprehended James Lemar Lyles, 38, at 2 Conyers St., without incident.
Police were called to the scene at 3:11 p.m. when a woman reported her son was intoxicated and had assaulted her. There were also unconfirmed reports of shots fired in the house before she left the residence. Police units were dispatched to the area and KEITH GEDAMKE / THE SUMTER ITEM
SEE CONYERS, PAGE A5 Police arrive at the scene near Conyers Street and Alice Drive.
New choices coming to Broad Street
Journalists shot dead during live interview
BY ADRIENNE SARVIS adrienne@theitem.com Sumter City and County Planning Commission approved plans for a freestanding Popeye’s restaurant and a multi-tenant building that will house three establishments, including a McAlister’s Deli and a Vitamin Shoppe, on Broad Street during its meeting Wednesday. The two buildings will be constructed at 1177 Broad St., across from Cook-Out restaurant. Helen Roodman, senior planner at Sumter Planning Department, said the land is within county limits, but the structures were reviewed based on city standards because the applicant intends to have the property annexed into the city limits in order to receive city services. According to the site plan, the Popeyes building will be a little more than 2,600 square-feet and the multitenant building will be 8,800 square-feet. Though the property is now one parcel, the developers intend to create two parcels that will each hold one structure. Roodman said the planning department does not anticipate any improvements to the surrounding roadways except the possible addition of a right-turn lane. She said the three existing entrances to the site will be replaced with one central entranceway. Also, the commission approved the building materials and highway corridor protection district design review for the construction of a 3,795-square-foot commercial dental office at 852 W. Liberty St. The buildings that previously occupied the site, Sumter Family Dental Center and
Assailant filmed shooting, posted to social media MONETA, Va. (AP) — A TV reporter and cameraman were shot to death during a live television interview Wednesday by a gunman who recorded himself carrying out the killings and posted the video on social media after fleeing the scene. Authorities identified the suspect as a fellow journalist who had been fired from the station earlier this year. A man thought to be the gunman later crashed a vehicle after fleeing a traffic stop, and pursuing troopers found him suffering from a gunshot wound. He was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, state police said. The shots rang out on-air as reporter Alison Parker and cameraman Adam Ward were presenting a local tourism story. Viewers saw her scream and run, and she could be heard saying “Oh my God,” as she fell. Ward fell, too, and the camera he had been holding on his shoulder captured a fleeting image of the suspect holding a handgun. WDBJ quickly switched back to the anchor at the station, her eyes large and jaw dropping as she said, “OK, not sure what happened there.” The station later went live again, reporting on their own station and staff as the story developed. The suspect was identified as Vester Lee Flanagan II, 41, of Roanoke, by Au-
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Bryce Williams, whose real name is Vester Lee Flanagan II, aims a gun over the shoulder of WDBJ-TV cameraman Adam Ward at reporter Alison Parker as she conducts a live on-air interview Wednesday in this still from a video Williams posted to his social media accounts. Moments later, Flanagan fatally shot Parker and Ward and injured Vicki Gardner, who was being interviewed. The station said Flanagan was also a former employee at WDBJ and appeared on air as Bryce Williams. gusta County Sheriff’s Office. Flanagan appeared on WDBJ as Bryce Williams.
Jeffrey Marks, WDBJ’s president and general manager, said Flanagan had to
be escorted by police out of
SEE SHOOTING, PAGE A6
SEE CHOICES, PAGE A6
Bishopville charter school head sentenced to 3½ years for fraud BY JOHN MONK The State COLUMBIA — A federal judge Tuesday sentenced a former charter public school director to 3½ years in prison for stealing $1.56 million in federal money that should have gone to help educate low-income children in poverty-stricken areas of Lee County. “She was supposed to help children
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who were needy children, who had a lot to gain from a good education,” U.S. Judge Terry Wooten said just before pronouncing sentence on Benita Dinkins-Robinson shortly after 6 p.m., near the end of a nine-hour hearing at the federal courthouse in Columbia. Dinkins-Robinson was found guilty during a trial in March. The case is being watched by many interested in charter schools because they are free
from most public school instructional regulations but still can receive public money. Her school in Bishopville, the Mary L. Dinkins Academy, which later moved to Sumter County, was set up to help disadvantaged children. “This is a very serious matter,” Wooten said, repeating that several times just before he revealed how long he would send the 40-year-old, longtime educator to prison.
DEATHS, B5 Francis L. Newcomb Levi Lang Xavier M. Rembert Jr. Tamarcus M. Brown Donald Lee Pearson Sr.
Joseph Sims Jr. Chase W. Olson Edwin W. Oliver Jr. Ann B. Brewer
Only minutes before, a court official had pushed a silent alarm to summon emergency help as DinkinsRobinson’s older brother and his fiancee spoke out angrily, accusing — without offering any evidence — lead FBI case Agent Julie Bitzel of perjury in the case. A half-dozen U.S. deputy marshals in cargo pants and boots soon entered
SEE FRAUD, PAGE A6
WEATHER, A12
INSIDE
MORE SPOTTY STORMS
2 SECTIONS, 20 PAGES VOL. 120, NO. 264
Partly cloudy with storms and showers possible in spots; cooler and clear tonight. HIGH 88, LOW 69
Classifieds B8 Comics B7 Lotteries A12
Opinion A11 Religion A4 Television A7