LANCASTER, S.C. — Leaders in the city of Lancaster are concerned about a number of shootings involving young people. In the last two months, Lancaster saw at least four shootings involving teenage victims, and one of those shootings was fatal.
In one case, a teen was shot while walking to a restaurant in the middle of the day in downtown Lancaster. In a separate case, a teen was shot while playing basketball.
"My daughter heard it, it was around the corner from my house," Lancaster attorney Mandy Powers Norrell said. "And then maybe an hour later we saw on Facebook that a friend’s child had been shot.”
So far this year, the Lancaster Police Department has had six calls for shots fired and one homicide. It's a contrast from four years ago in 2018 when Lancaster had zero reported homicides.
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“Most young people in that situation – you’re dealing with hopelessness, you’re dealing with a lack of education, you’re dealing with a lack of positive male role models and influence," Gary Robinson, who is a program coordinator with Engaging Men, said.
Robinson works with boys and men in Lancaster through his work with Engaging Men. He also teaches a class at the county jail.
Robinson said teens who commit crimes are often struggling at home and are looking for support.
“If you don’t have a father figure at home, you’re going to find a father figure or somebody that’s going to influence you on the outside," Robinson said. "And a lot of times that influence is going to be negative.”
Lancaster Interim Chief of Police Lt. Brian Small said they have suspects in some of the cases, but detectives need more people to speak up.
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“If someone would just talk to us and come forward, maybe we could found out why: Why this happened, why the shootings are taking place," Small said. "But no one wants to help us with that.”
Small became interim chief of the Lancaster Police Department about two weeks ago. He said that this is a priority for him, and his detectives are working nonstop to solve the crimes.
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