In other news, Stephen Tyler is dead, a victim of a serial killer.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090703/ap_on_re_us/us_sc_killing_spree SC serial killer blamed for 4 deaths in 6 days
By MITCH WEISS, Associated Press Writer Mitch Weiss, Associated Press
Writer – 1 hr 6 mins ago
GAFFNEY, S.C. – Sheriff's deputies searched Friday for a serial killer
blamed for four deaths over the past six days as terrified residents
wondered who might be next.
Investigators have not figured out how the victims are linked or if
they knew the man who shot them. So far, all they have is a sketch of
a suspect and a possible getaway vehicle, said Cherokee County Sheriff
Bill Blanton.
"There's no evidence there is a hit list," Blanton said. "There's no
evidence he knows the victims. There's no evidence the victims are
connected."
But plenty of evidence links the killings, said Blanton, who would not
provide details.
"Yes, we have a serial killer," he said at a news conference.
The latest victims were found in their family's small furniture and
appliance shop near downtown Gaffney around closing time Thursday.
Stephen Tyler, 45, was killed, and his 15-year-old daughter was shot
and seriously injured. Tyler's wife, his older daughter and an
employee found them in Tyler Home Center, County Coroner Dennis Fowler
said.
The latest killing happened one day and about seven miles from where
family members found the bodies of 83-year-old Hazel Linder and her 50-
year-old daughter, Gena Linder Parker, bound and shot in Linder's
home. Blanton would not say if Tyler and his daughter were also bound.
The killing spree began last Saturday about 10 miles from Tyler Home
Center. Peach farmer Kline Cash, 63, was found shot in his living
room. Investigators said he appeared to have been robbed, but they
haven't determined if anything was taken in the latest killings.
The shootings have prompted fear in Cherokee County, 50 miles south of
Charlotte, N.C., and home to about 54,000 people. The county had just
six homicides in all of 2008, and that was double the number reported
the year before.
Residents have "their guard up and their gun handy," said state Sen.
Harvey Peeler, R-Gaffney, who recalled the area being terrorized once
before, in the 1960s, by a serial killer dubbed the Gaffney Strangler
who murdered several women before he was caught.
"There is no greater fear than the fear of the unknown and nobody
knows. You can cut the tension with a knife," Peeler said. "People are
locking their doors, even in broad daylight."
The latest shootings took place less than a half-mile from the
sheriff's office, the command center where at least 30 investigators
were already working on the case. Blanton said a profiler has brought
up the possibility that Tyler and his daughter were shot to taunt
investigators, but he said his only concern is solving the case.
"We had a 15-year-old girl shot; he killed an 83-year-old woman. The
good people of this community don't deserve that. And it doesn't look
like he shows much concern or remorse," Blanton said.
The sheriff reminded people they have a right to protect themselves
and asked them to call 911 to report anything suspicious. He also
advised salesmen and others to avoid knocking on strangers' doors with
so many on heightened alert.
"People are going to start shooting at shadows," Blanton said.