WHO YA GONNA CALL ???

GE&P has learned there was a drive by shooting in Cross last night. The incident occurred on Hwy 311 near the intersection with County Line Road.

According to neighbors, the shots were fired from a moving car at about 7PM. The shots were reported to number between 9 and 12. Two folks called 911, one at 7:08 and one at 7:12. Each reported the incident as a" drive by shooting". The 911 dispatcher informed each caller that an officer would be sent out.

At 7:30, the neighbors had gathered outside their homes waiting for the officer. One neighbor decided it would be helpful to the officer, when he arrived, to locate the spent shells and mark their positions. This neighbor retrieved some reflective cones from his garage. The neighbors began to walk the sides of the road to locate the brass. They found 6 shells and marked each with a cone. Still the officer had not arrived.

By this time, it was 8:15. One neighbor decided to call 911, again. This call was made and the caller was informed that "this had been a very busy night but an officer would be there soon".

In the meantime, one neighbor called a friend to tell her what was happening. This friend happened to have another friend who works in the sheriff's department. This third friend was called. This member of the sheriff's office immediately called the neighbor (victim) back to find out what had happened. From there, things began to happen as they should have from the start.

Once the sheriff's department found out about the incident, the wheels began to turn and the neighborhood received the proper attention.

The sheriff's department was not notified of the severity of the incident until after 8:25. An officer arrived at 8:40 and a detective arrived at 9:00.

GE&P found out that the 911 dispatcher had, indeed, received the original calls at 7:08PM and 7:12PM. The dispatcher did not report this incident to the sheriff's office until 7:55PM. Even then, it was reported as a "discharge of a firearm" instead of a "drive by shooting".

The sheriff assured GE&P he intends to fully investigate not only the incident but the handling of the calls. Our question is this........how can the citizens of Berkeley County expect the sheriff to be able to do his job if we cannot count on our 911 service to do it's job properly? GE&P strongly suggests we support our sheriff by demanding better performance from our 911 service. Perhaps this service needs to be put back under the control of the sheriff's department.