RIVALRY REDUX Lakewood set to host Crestwood as county foes square off again. B1 Police find stolen items, arrest burglary suspect. A2 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2013 | SUMTER, SOUTH CAROLINA
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Gun, ammo found on SHS student BY BRADEN BUNCH bbunch@theitem.com A Sumter High School junior, who police say had a stolen handgun in his book bag, was arrested on campus Thursday afternoon. Sumter Police Chief Russell Roark confirmed the student, a 16-year-old male, was arrested on the campus
grounds while school was in session. According to Roark, officers assigned to the school were checking ROARK into an unrelated incident when they received information that the student was in possession of the weapon.
Upon searching, officers said they found a .45-caliber handgun inside the student’s backpack. While GALLOWAY the gun itself was not loaded, there was a loaded magazine found in the bag as well. In addition, police said a records check
of the handgun’s serial number revealed the gun had been reported stolen last week from Richland County. The suspect was taken into custody and charged with unlawful carrying of a pistol, possession of a firearm on school property, minor in possession of a handgun and possession of a stolen firearm. He is cur-
rently being held at the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice facility in Columbia, pending a detention hearing. Sumter School District spokeswoman Shelly Galloway said the student will also receive disciplinary action in accordance with the SEE GUN, PAGE A6
Teen’s family urges public to help with investigation
Mayesville bridge will reopen today
Police have 2 persons of interest in killing
After 15 months of detours and delays, Mayesville residents will finally be able to drive over the bridge on U.S. 76/ Florence Highway heading into Sumter starting today. Workers with the state Department of Transportation are expected to begin removing barriers on the bridge this afternoon, according to Sumter DOT engineer Jeffrey Wilkes. The last step construction workers needed to take before the bridge could reopen is the installation of a guard rail, which DOT expected to be complete Thursday. “The other things they’re working on, they can finish later, but that has to do with safety, and it can’t open without that,” Wilkes said in reference to the guard rail. Other tasks to be completed include laying grass, asphalting and finishing work on the shoulders, but Wilkes said those can be completed after the bridge reopens. Some asphalt will be laid this morning, after which the bridge will open as soon as the barricades and detour signs can be removed. The bridge originally closed in June 2012 for engineers to demolish the structurally deficient 270-foot-long bridge and replace it with a new structure. Officials expected it to be closed for a year, but delays extended the project until today. For several weeks last summer, work on the bridge stopped completely after a protected species of barn swallow was found to be nesting
BY BRISTOW MARCHANT bmarchant@theitem.com
BY ROBERT J. BAKER bbaker@theitem.com Patricia Marie Abraham says every day she lives without her son Aaron is challenging. But what makes it most difficult is not knowing who took the 18-year-old Sumter High School student’s life last year, shortly before what would have been his senior year. “Not a day goes by where he ain’t A. ABRAHAM on my mind,” Abraham said Wednesday. “He’s on my mind 24-7 it seems like.” Abraham and the Sumter Police Department are hopeful that her son — or his killer — is also on someone’s mind. “We’re hopeful putting his name back out there will trigger someone’s memory, or that someone who has been afraid to come forward will come forward with something,” said 1st Sgt. Gene Williams. Aaron Marquis Abraham’s body was found Aug. 22, 2012, one month exactly after his mother reported him missing. A man collecting cans on the side of Cane Savannah Road near S.C. 261 in the Wedgefield area discovered the grisly final resting place of the young man, who had been shot in the head. Aaron had last been seen July 19, 2012, and Sumter County Library security camera footage showed him leaving about 6 p.m. that day. Family members told The Item last year that it was typical for Aaron to walk the two miles from his Boulevard Road home to the library. “But it wasn’t like him not to come home,” Abraham said. “He always called if he was SEE AARON, PAGE A8
ROB COTTINGHAM / THE ITEM
Barriers close off the bridge on U.S. 76/Florence Highway near Mayesville earlier this year. After 15 months of detours and delays, during which the old bridge was demolished and rebuilt, the road will reopen today, according to the state Department of Transportation.
Shaggers invited to help raise money for shelter pets BY JADE ANDERSON janderson@theitem.com A local nonprofit is bringing out the state dance to try to raise some money. The Sumter Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals will hold its first “Shaggin’ and Waggin’ Dance” on Sept. 14. Tickets are $15 per person and are on sale now.
“We’ve shaggers in WANT TO GO? done a Sumter, and WHAT: Shaggin’ and Waggin’ Dance dance in it would be WHEN: 7 to 11 p.m. Sept. 14 February a good WHERE: Elaine D. Korn Memorial Center, for a numevent to 1100 S. Guignard Drive, Sumter ber of years, COST: $15 help the but this is animals. BENEFITS: Sumter SPCA NOTES: Light hors d’oeuvres will be served the first These fundFor more information, call (803) 773-9292. year we’ve raisers are done this what help particular type event,” us keep our doors open said Cindy Cook, SPCA and doing what we do.” manager. “We just Her organization serves thought we have a lot of between 5,000 to 5,500
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animals per year, Cook said. The DJ will be state Rep. Grady Brown, DBishopville. “I just love being able to play music and have people dancing,” said the man who has been an onair DJ since Labor Day of 1962. “It’s just a joy to be around people who love SEE SHAGGIN’, PAGE A6
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