Another Night, Another Murder

Crime strikes in West Ashley

It appears that the violence in West Ashley last night was not random. Nor was it connected to the robbery this week of the same Kangaroo Express where the murder occurred at.

A yet-to-be identified black male was shot and killed in the Kangaroo parking lot, located at Carriage Lane and State Hwy 171.


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From the Live 5 News website:

WEST ASHLEY, SC (WCSC) - One man is dead after a shooting outside a convenience store Friday night.

According to Public Information Officer for Charleston City Police Charles Francis, shortly before 11 pm shots were fired outside the Kangaroo Store on Carriage Lane and a black male was hit. EMS were dispatched to the scene and pronounced the man dead.

Francis said the incident was not the result of a robbery attempt and no one associated with the store was involved or injured.

Police are currently interviewing witnesses and hve not yet isolated a suspect.

This is the same store that was robbed the night before but police are confident the two incidents are unrelated.

Maybe Next Week, They'll go for the Trifecta ?

In One Night: Two Grocery Stores Hit


The Charleston Police Department is seeking suspects after two grocery stores were robbed Thursday night.

Ashe Street Grocery on Johns Island was robbed just after 8 p.m. Witnesses told police two black males entered the store and demanded money. The suspects were described as wearing all black clothing. One of them was wearing a blue backpack. One was armed with a handgun.

Charlies Grocery in Charleston was robbed just before 10 p.m. Thursday night.

The victims told police two suspects entered the store, pointed guns at them and demanded money.

One victim was forced on his knees at gunpoint, while the other victim was forced to fill a grocery bag full of cash.

One of the suspects threatened the second victim stating, "hurry up, you must want your son to get shot."

The suspects were described as wearing green bandannas with the sleeves of their sweatshirts covering their hands.

Kangaroo Express Gas Station Robbed Today

More crime around town ... this time, gas station Kangaroo Express held up.

"The clerk described the suspect as a black male approximately 20 to 30 years old, approximately 5 feet, 5 inches tall with a medium build. He was wearing a gray sweatshirt with a red t-shirt over the sweatshirt, baggy blue jeans, black gloves and a black scarf around his face.

If you have any information, you are asked to call Crime Stoppers at 554-1111."


Map, below:


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Here is the link to the on-line news article. Click me.

Several Local Perps Pinched This Week

Some good new on the crime fighting front:

This week, in addition to North Charleston PD's snag of the three Wachovia holdup suspects, the downtown burglar was caught; and a vandal terrorizing town was picked up yesterday as well.

Click here to view video from WCIV.

Shootings, Armed Robberies, Bank Heists Keep CPD Busy Yesterday

It seems as though things are really heating up as the temperature cools down here in Chucktown. Previously, it used to be inversely proportional. Nevertheless, the Thanksgiving-to-Christmas holiday period naturally elicits feelings of low self-esteem; envy and jealousy of the have-more's; and occasionally the urge to give to one's family that which they normally could not. Responses to all of the media stimuli undoubtedly feed into these emotional shortcomings, perpetuating the aforementioned lack of self-worth. This, in turn, feeds the visious crime cycle. After all, if you don't have it, why not take it from someone else?

Charleston crime of late feels -- at least viscerally -- to be on the uptick. Recent news reports evidence a spate of high-profile, violent crimes such as yesterday's attempted murder of a man in West Ashley; the armed holdup of a Wachovia Bank branch in the same part of town; and a recently-captured man (Illya Laron Wright) who is believed to be responsible for a burglary spree downtown. The assailants from the bank robbery were all apprehended as well.

More updates to come - stay tuned to Crime in Charleston.

Wild West Weekend in Chucktown

Tonight, plenty of action on the Charleston crimefront. Large bar brawls on James Island; beatdowns downtown; and of course -- shootings in N. Charleston.

Tomorrow AM, I will post some article precis as well as newslinks back to the TV news stories covering these various incidents.

For the moment, remember: stay vigilant; lock your doors; don't leave valuables in your car; and shred important mail !! Can't stress any of these enough. Don't invite crime to your doorstep.

Tomorrow -- we'll discuss digital wi-fi security cameras, home security system companies, cross-integration, and standalone cameras you can monitor from your home PC's (or Macs).

"The weed of crime bears bitter fruit."

Morgan Quitno Press Ranks North Charleston the 7th Most Dangerous City in U.S.

We're in the Top Ten!

Oh wait, that is a dubious honor. North Charleston has just this year moved up in the rankings from number 10 to number 7 in the national rankings for most dangerous cities in the U.S.

Numerous factors are used to weight these studies, which annually are used by the FBI, city planning committees, mayoral-select blue ribbon panels, and other groups to discuss the elephant in the room.

As Charleston moves ever-closer to truly becoming "Detroit-on-the-Peninsula," serious action needs to be taken to keep the inmates from running the asylum.

Link to Congressional Quarterly/Morgan Quitno Press Full Report on City Crime Stats

Here's a great quote from a gentleman resident of North Charleston, from the P&C article:

"Abu Bakr Balal said after watching a movie in North Charleston on Sunday night that the city gets a bad rap.

"Don't believe the hype," Balal said. "Anywhere can be the most dangerous place. To the people there, it's the safest place in the world. If I go to the suburbs, I'm uncomfortable."

(link to aforementioned article available by clicking here)

Uncomfortable because of the relative safety of the suburbs? Admittedly, the militant soccer-mom's in their UAV's frighten the crap out of me (that's Urban Assault Vehicles, for those of you who didn't know, the three-row Excursions and Suburbans with black tinted-out windows, that instead of a half-dozen Secret Service agents with MP-5's in it, instead spit out dozens of runny-nosed children wielding soccer balls and lethal toe cleated spikes on their feet). This certainly gives a person a moment's pause.

MOST DANGEROUS -- TOP 20 HONOR ROLL (who-da thunkit, we beat Compton and Newark!!):

1. Detroit 407.2

2. St. Louis 406.2

3. Flint, Mich. 381.0

4. Oakland, Calif. 338.9

5. Camden, N.J. 323.8

6. Birmingham, Ala. 268.8

7. North Charleston 254.3

8. Memphis, Tenn. 245.6

9. Richmond, Calif. 245.1

10. Cleveland 244.4

11. Orlando, Fla. 237.4

12. Baltimore 236.7

13. Little Rock, Ark. 233.8

14. Compton, Calif. 223.6

15. Youngstown, Ohio 222.0

16. Cincinnati 218.3

17. Gary, Ind. 214.0

18. Kansas City, Mo. 203.4

19. Dayton, Ohio 201.5

20. Newark, N.J. 197.3