IN SPORTS: Lady Gamecocks take on South Florence in Region VI-5A opener B1 SCIENCE Is a quirk of climate keeping hurricanes from battering U.S.? FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 2017 | Serving South Carolina since October 15, 1894 75 cents A4 Evidence paints Sheriff seeks man in fatal shooting Roof as racist, sheriff’s office, deputies ed Thursday morning and a cause of 42-year-old man killed in responded to a call about death was pending the completion of drifting loner a man having been shot in the report, as of Thursday afternoon. Wednesday night incident the 4000 block of Briar Witnesses identified Secor, who al- FROM STAFF REPORTS Branch Road about 8 p.m. legedly fled the area before law en- COLUMBIA (AP) — Before The victim, identified by forcement arrived, as the shooter, ac- Dylann Roof was arrested for Sumter County Sheriff’s Office seeks SECOR Sumter County Coroner cording to the release. killing nine black church the public’s help in locating 35-year-old Robbie Baker as 42-year- Secor was last seen driving a green members, he scribbled a note Thomas David Secor Jr., wanted in old Thomas Cockerill of 1995 Ford F-150 four-door pickup with a to his mother, apologizing for connection to a shooting that left one Sumter, was pronounced dead at the tan stripe along the bottom. all the repercussions his ac- man dead on Wednesday night. scene. tions would cause. Weeks According to a news release from the Baker said an autopsy was conduct- SEE SHOOTING, PAGE A3 later, in a jailhouse journal, he wrote that he had no re- grets. The evidence, along with his manifesto, hundreds of pho- After the 12 Days of Christmas tos and a confes- sion to the FBI, draw a portrait Jerome Stanley begins the process of of a young white removing the Christmas lights from man consumed Centennial Plaza on Thursday morning. ROOF by racial hatred KEITH GEDAMKE / THE SUMTER ITEM who carefully planned the kill- ings, picking out meek, inno- cent black people who likely wouldn’t fight back. Jurors who convicted Roof of hate crimes and other charges will decide whether he should be executed or face life in prison. ROOF AND RACISM Roof has pointed out that there was no dramatic con- frontation that led him to begin hating blacks. Instead, when the Trayvon Martin case made the news, Roof went to Wikipedia to read about the black teenager who was shot to death in 2012 by neighborhood watch volun- teer George Zimmerman, who was acquitted. That led Roof to research black on white crime and to websites that offer false statistics in- flating how often those crimes happen. Roof was careful in his writings to say his beliefs came just from himself, not his parents. But one of Roof’s old friends suggested other- wise. “I don’t think his parents liked his decisions, the choic- es that he made to have black friends,” said Christon Scriv- en, who is black. Roof would go between partying with black friends and spewing racist diatribes to his white buddies, Scriven said. Roof also believed the dubi- ous claims that blacks were better off as slaves and are School board looks to hire finance consultant inferior at their cores to whites. He compared blacks BY BRUCE MILLS Board members informed the dis- to dogs, saying everyone feels [email protected] trict’s finance committee of the LATE-BREAKING NEWS ONLINE bad when a man beats a dog, plans Wednesday at a meeting of the The Sumter School District Board of Trustees but no one is surprised when In response to a debt crisis, it ap- committee. was still meeting in executive session and a dog bites a man. pears the Sumter School District The action comes after the release behind closed doors at Thursday night’s Board of Trustees will secure the last month of the 2015-16 audit re- special called meeting at press time for The THE SON services of an outside school finance port, which showed the district had Sumter Item. For news and information from When authorities searched consultant this semester with the in- gone over budget by $6.2 million in the meeting on Superintendent Frank Baker’s Roof’s car, they found birth- tention of potentially hiring a full- the fiscal year ending June 30. The emergency financial plan, check The Item’s day cards from his mom and time person for the start of the next website today at www.theitem.com. dad, who were divorced, and fiscal year, which begins July 1. SEE BOARD, PAGE A5 what appeared to be suicide notes to each of his parents. Roof’s writings to his mom show a son worried about how she would feel. “At this moment I miss you Unfinished business awaits General Assembly very much,” he wrote. “And as childish as it sounds, I BY JIM HILLEY public education in poor, time,” he said, making it would take the state an addi- wish I was in your arms.” [email protected] rural school districts at the clear the $1.5 billion surplus tional $103.9 million to fully Roof’s mom suffered a top of its list of objectives. from fiscal year 2016-17 will fund the Local Government heart attack in court shortly Most of the issues dis- Leaders also promised a new not be repeated. Fund and $518 million to after prosecutors called him cussed during the South focus on dealing with inade- He also said there is no fully fund the base student a cold and calculated killer in Carolina General Assem- quately funded pensions and budget shortfall, either. cost as established by the their opening statement. bly’s annual workshop with continued efforts to pass in- Growth during the year Educational Finance Act of Roof worked for his con- members of the state’s come tax reform. will lead to more than $300 1977. tractor father for a time. media were little different Before the legislators out- million in new money avail- “I am just putting those “I love you and I’m sorry,” from those discussed before lined their priorities, howev- able, he said, but he out- numbers out there because Roof wrote. “You were a good last year’s session. er, State Budget Director Les lined $318 million in obliga- that’s my job,” Boles said. dad.” The General Assembly Boles reported financial pro- tions the state must meet as Rep. Gary Simrill, R-York, In Roof’s birthday card, his will once again have sustain- jections for fiscal year 2017- well. said the roads bill that father promised to buy him a able funding for roads and 18. In addition to those obliga- gun. exploring ways to improve “No budget surplus this tions, Boles pointed out it SEE WORKSHOP, PAGE A5 VISIT US ONLINE AT CONTACT US DEATHS, B4 WEATHER, A8 INSIDE Information: 774-1200 Samuel E. Lowder Robert Lee Carter WINTRY MIX 2 SECTIONS, 16 PAGES the .com Advertising: 774-1246 Bertha S. Royster Laverne Johnson Strong chance of after- VOL. 122, NO. 60 Classifieds: 774-1234 Thomas E. Cockerill Wade Clark noon showers today; Classifieds B5 Delivery: 774-1258 Henry Lee Harris Courtney K. Gardner tonight, rain and ice Comics A8 News and Sports: 774-1226 Ivory McCoy-Rose William E. Hilton turning to snow. Opinion A9 Joshua Way Burgess Eddie Dean HIGH 53, LOW 32 Susie Mae J. Nelson Mary A. Hudson Television A6-A7 A2 | FRIDAY, JANUARY 6, 2017 THE SUMTER ITEM Call: (803) 774-1226 | E-mail: [email protected] LOCAL & STATE BRIEFS Organization donates flag and pole FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS BY KONSTANTIN VENGEROWSKY Woman charged with [email protected] homicide by child neglect An American flag waves proudly Mary Amelia Woods, 28, of today in downtown Bishopville, next to 612 Miller Road, is in jail after the Lee County Chamber of Com- an investigation determined merce, thanks to the efforts of a non- her actions contributed to the profit organization. death of her infant son, ac- On Thursday, a flag was hung on the cording to a news flagpole that was donated in late De- release from cember by WoodmenLife, officially Sumter Police De- known as Woodmen of the World Life partment. Insurance Society, a not-for-profit fra- Woods is ternal benefit society. The society oper- charged with ho- ates a large privately held insurance micide by child company for its members, according to WOODS neglect and is www.woodmen.org. being held at The history of the organization in- Sumter-Lee Regional Deten- cludes numerous philanthropic efforts, tion Center. community outreach projects and a Police and Department of program to donate American flags, the Social Services were called to website states. the home on Oct. 8 after a 5- to Cam Watson, financial representa- 6-month-old infant was found tive for the organization, said members unresponsive. celebrate patriotism in many ways, in- KONSTANTIN VENGEROWSKY / THE SUMTER ITEM A warrant indicates the cluding presenting U.S. and religious Tim Houlahan (left), recruiting sales manager for WoodmenLife, officially known as mother rolled over on the flags. Woodmen of the World Life Insurance Society, and Randall Gooding, commander of Rob- child, suffocating it while “WoodmenLife is one of the largest ert E. Lee American Legion Post 29 in Bishopville, prepare to raise the flag on Thursday at sleeping. According to the distributors of U.S. flags,” he said. Lee County Chamber of Commerce in Bishopville. warrant and a statement given “The organization has donated more by the suspect, she was intoxi- than 2 million American flags and pre- the website states.