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Monday, October 19, 2009

Official: Shots 'justified' in Carolina Forest school incident

I still have major questions about the shooting at Carolina Forest. (I was out of the office Friday when it happened.) I'm starting to wonder if I'm the only one. Immediately after the incident, Horry County Schools came out and told everyone that it was a tussle and the police officer was a good man and that his friends were disturbed that anyone would even question his actions. Over the weekend, the solicitor's office essentially declared, ``Nothing left to see here folks, let's move on.'' I don't know what went on inside that room. All I know is that two people entered alive and one came out dead, and the one dead was a 16-year-old with autism. That alone -- no matter if law enforcement deems the shooting justified or not -- should give us all pause and want to ask more questions, not just take the official line. From all accounts, the officer was a good man was a long track record of good deeds, and it isn't hard to imagine that something quickly escalated and his police training kicked in. I get that. What I don't get is this: An officer with a very good reputation meets with a young autistic boy with no history of violence -- yes, I've worked with autistic children before and understand how quickly their moods can shift -- and by all accounts was also a good person, and a stabbing and shooting happened any way. What gives? What are we missing? Two good people walk into a room to talk and one of them comes out dead. If that doesn't force us to examine what's going on in our schools, I don't know what will.

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