Hinky, part II

Why did it take five days to report Parker had a knife? Also, did the cop and the deceased previously know one another? Local gossip says yes. Why is there still no answer from law enforcement, to that direct question, as well as other very simple questions? Why is our local newspaper so clueless?

Minor digression: I attempted to log on to the Greenville News, and I am repeatedly told my username is invalid, even though I AM able to edit my profile. (?) I am also unable to send an email to the webmaster to ask why I can't log in. This extremely user-unfriendly website totally sums up the Greenville News, which I wouldn't even link here if I felt I wasn't forced to; we have no other daily local newspaper of record. But they make it as difficult as possible for the public to participate. (I've had numerous letters-to-the-editor turned down for flimsy-ass political reasons, as well. If you can't feign bourgeois objectivity like a journalism-school graduate, forget it.) I called the Greenville News, pissed off, and I was promptly transferred all over creation; it seems no one has a fucking clue. Typical. No replies, no call back, no answers forthcoming. Welcome to Gannett!

In case anyone wonders why people prefer blogs to the all-hallowed mainstream media these days, maybe it's because the mainstream media puts up as many roadblocks to regular folks' participation as possible, and bloggers DON'T. One requires a variety of arcane chants and spells to access mainstream media--and I confess, I don't know the magic formula. Most of us out here and the heartland don't know the magic formula either, and have no time for that. By contrast, on blogs, vox populi still rules.

Pardon digression.

They finally have their stories straight, and this is the finished version:

Officer says suspect had knife before he shot her, report says
'Confrontation' came when he decided to cuff her, report says

Published: Wednesday, September 5, 2007 - 2:00 am

By Paul Alongi
STAFF WRITER

A Greenville police officer who fatally shot a woman says he was standing about two feet from her in her downtown apartment when he saw that her left hand was behind her back, according to an incident report released Tuesday by the Greenville Police Department.

Cpl. Russell Irvin wrote that he decided to put the suspect into handcuffs and a "confrontation ensued," the report states. The suspect had a knife or some other cutting instrument, according to the report.

Sabrina M. Parker, 35, died at the scene of a gunshot wound to the chest at 6:07 p.m. Friday, according to Greenville County Deputy Coroner Ken Coppins. A weapon was found near her body, he said.

The two-page incident report doesn't say at what point Irvin drew his gun but provides several new details about the burglary investigation that led to the shooting and about Parker's past.

Parker told the officer that she "rode on the back of the garbage truck for the city," the report states. City Manager Jim Bourey said the record wasn't clear but that Parker may have worked temporarily for the city.

When the officer asked Parker for her age and identification, she said she was 28 and provided an ID from the state Department of Corrections, according to the report.

Parker was released on probation from Leath Correctional Institution in Greenwood on May 1, according to corrections spokesman Josh Gelinas. She had been serving a three-year sentence for grand larceny, he said.

She also had convictions dating to 1991 for driving under suspension, shoplifting, public drunk and possession of more than one ounce of marijuana, according to the State Law Enforcement Division.

SLED is investigating the shooting. It will be up to the 13th Circuit Solicitor's Office to determine if it was justified.

Irvin, who has been placed on administrative leave, arrived at the scene, 208 E. Stone Ave., about 5:55 p.m. in reference to a burglary, the report states.

A woman told him that several items, including a television and computer, were missing from her apartment, according to the report. The woman told the officer that she confronted Parker about the items and that she denied knowing anything about them, the report states.

Irvin went to Apt. 4, where music was playing loudly, and knocked on the door several times, the report states. Parker answered, the officer asked to speak with her in private and they went inside, according to the report.

When the officer asked if anyone else was in the apartment, Parker said no, according to the report.

Parker said that she and the woman who complained had been in prison together, the report states. Parker denied stealing anything from her and told the officer that the woman held a grudge against her, according to the report.

While Irvin questioned Parker, she smoked two cigarettes and then went to the kitchen to dump the ashes in an ashtray, the report states. Irvin followed to ensure his own safety and saw a man lying face down on a bed in a "back room," according to the report.

He asked the man for his identification card and then Parker for hers, the report states.

While sweeping the apartment for other people, Irvin checked a living room closet with a partially opened door and saw a television and computer matching the description of the ones reported stolen, the report states.

Parker told the officer that she got the items from the trash at work, according to the report.

Irvin went to the kitchen, where the suspect was, and the confrontation ensued, the report states.

SLED spokeswoman Bobbi Schlatterer declined to say how many times the officer shot or how many times Parker was hit, citing the open investigation.

HE FOLLOWED HER WHILE SHE WENT TO EMPTY THE ASHTRAY???????????? She sounds real dangerous.

These other details mean little, except that she was a suspicious character. Well, stop the presses: "Irvin went to the kitchen, where the suspect was, and the confrontation ensued, the report states." Uh, well, duh. Of course. Obviously, since she is dead. WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED, WORD FOR WORD, ACCORDING TO EVERYONE THERE? Why is our lame-ass newspaper unable to get this story? If witnesses and law enforcement are unwilling to answer questions, we need to be told, explicitly" LAW ENFORCEMENT REFUSED TO ANSWER QUESTIONS.

God, this story stinks. Too bad we don't have real a newspaper, with a real website, with real journalists and real webmasters. You know, like in the big cities?

Dream on, huh? (((spits for emphasis)))

Hinky?

Officer shoots, kills woman after confrontation
He was investigating break-in, chief says
Published: Saturday, September 1, 2007 - 2:00 am

By E. Richard Walton
STAFF WRITER, Greenville News

A Greenville police officer shot and killed a woman who "confronted" him as he responded this evening to a reported break-in at a residence on East Stone Avenue, Greenville Police Chief Terri Wilfong said.

The woman was shot by Cpl. Russell Irvin at about 6 p.m. at 208 E. Stone Ave. near Bennett Street, she said.

Sabrina M. Parker, 35, of 208 E. Stone Ave., Apt. 4 was pronounced dead at the scene at 6:07 p.m., said Ken Coppins, Greenville County deputy coroner. An autopsy is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. today, Coppins said.

Wilfong said the officer went to one unit in the dwelling, then to another one and was "confronted" by the woman.

"We still don’t have all the facts together," she said. "The officer approached the woman, and that’s when the confrontation started."

The State Law Enforcement Division is investigating the shooting. SLED spokeswoman Mary Perry declined to comment tonight except to say that Greenville police had requested a couple of agents to investigate the case, and she didn’t know when further information would be available.

Wilfong said she didn’t know how many times the officer fired his weapon. She wouldn’t comment on whether the woman had a weapon or how she confronted the officer.

Irvin has been with the Greenville Police Department since February of 2003, said police spokesman Cpl. Jason E. Rampey. "We won’t be making any more comments about this," he said. "SLED will do the rest of the talking."

~*~*~

Weapon reported found near body
Woman killed after confrontation with police officer, officials say
Published: Monday, September 3, 2007 - 2:00 am

By Paul Alongi
STAFF WRITER, Greenville News

A weapon was found near Sabrina M. Parker's body after a Greenville police officer fatally shot her during a confrontation at a downtown residence, a Greenville County deputy coroner said Sunday.

Parker, 35, died of a gunshot wound to the chest after Friday's shooting at 208 E. Stone Ave., said deputy coroner Ken Coppins. He wouldn't say what type of weapon was found near the body.

In wake of the shooting, law enforcement agencies have left several questions unanswered, including how many times Parker was shot.

Police have said the shooting happened after Cpl. Russell Irvin responded to a break-in.

Irvin, who has been on the force since February 2003, has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, said Greenville police spokesman Cpl. Jason Rampey.

"There's no indication that he's done anything wrong," Rampey said. "That's just the policy that we have."

Parker's husband, Alton Parker of North Augusta, has told The Greenville News that he didn't think the shooting was necessary. Parker, who died at the scene, lived in Apt. 4 at 208 E. Stone Ave., Coppins said.

Rampey and Coppins referred questions about the investigation to the State Law Enforcement Division.

SLED spokeswoman Mary Perry declined comment, other than to say that the agency has been asked to look into the incident, and that it's an ongoing investigation.

Rampey said the only time officers are supposed to use deadly force is when their lives or someone else's life is in danger.

SLED will review the officer's actions, the suspect's actions and whether the officer's actions were justified, he said.

~*~*~

City backs chief's decision to withhold shooting details
Published: Tuesday, September 4, 2007 - 2:00 am

By Paul Alongi
STAFF WRITER, Greenville News

Greenville City Manager Jim Bourey said Monday he is supporting his police chief's decision to withhold three details about an officer's fatal shooting of a woman last week.

Chief Terri Wilfong has declined to say how many times Cpl. Russell Irvin fired, how many times Sabrina M. Parker was hit, or what type of weapon was found near her body.

Wilfong, who reports to Bourey, cited an investigation by the State Law Enforcement Division. "I assured them that once we turned the investigation over to them that we would not make any more comment," she said.

SLED spokeswoman Mary Perry declined to release the information, citing the open investigation.

Three members of the Greenville City Council, including Mayor Knox White, said Monday they haven't been briefed about the incident and deferred to the chief about what information should be released to the public.

Parker, 35, died of a gunshot would to the chest after Friday's shooting at 208 E. Stone Ave., said Greenville County Deputy Coroner Ken Coppins. A weapon was found near her body, he said, but he declined to say what kind.

Wilfong said an officer arrived at 5:55 p.m. and spoke to a break-in victim at Apt. 6. As part of the investigation, he went to a downstairs apartment, where he had a confrontation with a woman before shooting at her, she said.

Irvin, a member of the force since 2003, has been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, said police spokesman Cpl. Jason Rampey.

Parker lived in Apt. 4 at the shooting scene, Coppins said.

Bourey said he doesn't plan to brief the council about the incident at Tuesday's 5:30 p.m. meeting on the ninth floor of City Hall. "It's really a police matter," he said. "And it's a State Law Enforcement Division matter."

SLED will investigate, Bourey said, and the decision on whether the shooting was justified will be up to the 13th Circuit Solicitor's Office.

Council members C. Diane Smock and Chandra Dillard joined White in saying they deferred to the chief on what information ought to be released. Councilwoman Michelle Shain said she hasn't been briefed and assumed that Wilfong "was correct in her assertion." Councilman J. David Sudduth said he supports Wilfong's decision.