Residents Arm Themselves As Killer Lurks

(CBS/AP)  A criminal profiler described the man who has killed five people in the small rural town of Gaffney, S.C., last week as a "spree killer" - "a mass murderer in slow motion."

Profiler Pat Brown said on "The Early Show" Monday that the man who has been called a serial killer likely isn't one.

South Carolina investigators have released a sketch of the suspect, saying he is in his 40s, with salt and pepper hair, about 6-foot-2, weighing roughly 200 pounds. They think he is driving a gold, brown or champagne-colored 1991-1994 two-door Ford Explorer.

Brown said the most interesting aspect about what is known of the killer is that he's probably between 40 and 50 years old.

"This is the typical age you find somebody who's usually a mass murderer," she said. "A type of guy whose life is finally going down the toilet, and he says, 'I've had it. I'm going out after everybody.' . . . He's kind of suicidal, but he's going to take everybody out on the way."

Brown said investigators are looking for a middle-aged man who is not that far from the area. She said he's most likely a local man or one who lives nearby.

Investigators believe the killings are linked. Cherokee County Sheriff Bill Blanton said all the victims were shot, but he would not say how the deaths were connected. The shootings all occurred within about 10 miles of each other in Cherokee County, a community of 54,000 people set amid peach orchards and farms some 50 miles west of Charlotte, N.C.

Blanton said on "The Early Show" they have five or six witnesses who saw the murderer at the crime scenes, and that the investigation is "getting close."

But what about the people of Gaffney?

"Early Show" co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez asked Brown, if spree victims are targeted randomly, does it mean the residents are powerless?

Brown said she likes people to be armed and aware of the killer and his vehicle. Brown said she expects residents, if they work together on collecting and disseminating information, will identify the suspect.

"They do want to stop him because he's already killed five people," Brown said. "He hasn't anything to lose. If he is a spree killer - the type that's a mass murderer - essentially he's not planning, like a serial killer necessarily, to go back into regular life and live normally, and go back two years from now and kill another person. He will continue on his spree."

The killings began a week ago Saturday when the wife of 63-year-old peach farmer Kline Cash found her husband shot dead in their rural home. Then on Wednesday, relatives discovered the bodies of 50-year-old Gena Linder Parker and her 83-year-old mother, Hazel Linder, both bound and shot to death in an attack at Linder's home.

On Thursday, Stephen Tyler and his 15-year-old daughter Abby were shot as they were closing the Tyler Home Center near downtown Gaffney. He died Thursday, while Abby Tyler fought for her life for two days before passing away on Saturday at a hospital.

The Herald-Journal of Spartanburg reported that the Tylers' minister at Cherokee Avenue Baptist Church, Clyde Thomas, urged congregants to keep the faith in the face of tragedy. The newspaper said he had a pistol in his office Saturday.

"As Christians, we don't live by explanations. We live by promises. We live by faith, not sight," Thomas said.

Thomas also said he originally planned to deliver a sermon titled "Happy Birthday, America" for the Fourth of July service.

But instead of upbeat patriotic music, Sunday's program was changed to hymns reflecting a time of mourning.

The killings alarmed many residents, who canceled Independence Day holiday plans. Some armed themselves.

Clyde Thomas noted the irony of spending Independence Day locked indoors with firearms. "We should be celebrating freedom, but we find ourselves very much restrained by fear," he said.

Resident Janice Foster told CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann on "The Early Show" Monday she will keep weapons ready throughout her house.

"The town is more or less on lockdown so nobody can just walk in or out," she said.

Hillary Key, who met Abby Tyler as toddlers in day care, called the murders "devastating."

Key, who ate lunch with Abby every day, said her friend "never did anything to anybody."

Key said, "That smile, I'll miss the smile."

But Key said though it's "really scary" now, she expects things to change: "I don't think we should shut down our lives for him. Eventually he's gonna get caught. And this is gonna end."

But Sheriff Blanton is not telling residents to stay at home. On "The Early Show" He said residents should exercise caution, such as travel in groups, check on people who live alone."

"We don't succumb to this guy," he told Rodriguez. "Folks here are going to try to carry on a normal life as much as possible."

[igigrace]

I wonder if the daughter was shot first. If so, then I think the gunman wanted the father to see that. Who has been looking for work? This guy could be really close to being homeless and is really pissed off because he has worked his whole life for nothing.

[gunownerdan]

Exactly. Having a gun is good for nothing if you can't use it properly and safely.
A-HUMAN-RIGHT.com

[jackp32]

Arming yourself is a good thing but, please, attend a self defense and weapons handling course before you even think about loading and pointing that gun.