SLED report
clears officers
in shooting
By Scott Harper
sharper@gtowntimes.com
Last week, 15th Circuit Solicitor Greg Hembree issued a decision stating the two Georgetown County deputies involved in a deadly shooting in April committed no wrongdoing and no charges will be filed.
Hembree made his ruling based on an investigation conducted by the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division.
Until now, the information released publicly about the shooting which claimed the life of 59-year-old Luke Gamble of the Greentown Community was based on reports written by the two officers involved -- Sgt. Dustin Morris and Deputy James Lee-Wood.
On Monday, the Georgetown Times obtained a copy of the SLED report which was submitted to Hembree last week.
While the details about what led to the shooting are basically the same in the SLED report as in the reports written by Morris and Lee-Wood, their claims are further supported by a previously undisclosed eyewitness named Moses Allen.
Both officers have said the shooting was in self defense. Allen told SLED agents that Morris and Lee-Wood were telling the truth.
According to the SLED report, SLED Crime Scene Agents Melissa Skipper and Kenneth Kinsey responded and processed the scene on April 18.
Interviews were conducted by Special Agents James Johnson and Randall Truss.
The SLED report states Allen was at the home of Harold Smith Jr. on Oxford LaneLincolnshire Road on the evening of the shooting. Allen and Smith were sitting in a car talking about Smith's music. Allen was asking about becoming Smith's business manager.
As they were talking, Gamble walked over and opened the car door.
"What are you doing sitting in front of this house?" Gamble reportedly asked.
A neighbor, John Sherald Jr., told the investigators that he heard a commotion and when he looked out his window and saw Gamble "open the door of a vehicle that was parked in front of 280 Lincolnshire Street. He also observed (Smith) getting out of the vehicle and run into his house as he was being followed by Gamble," the report states.
Smith told investigators when he opened the car door Gamble said "let me talk to you for a minute." Smith said he responded by asking "what do you want to talk to me for?"
That's when Gamble cut Smith on his arm twice with a knife, Smith told the agents.
Smith's sister, Laquanda Smith, said her brother ran in the house and said he had been stabbed and asked her to call 911. She said she waited inside the house with her brother until the deputies arrived. She then "stood on her porch and observed the shooting as it happened between the officers and Luke Gamble," the report states.
During their interviews with the SLED agents, both Morris and Lee-Wood repeated the same thing they had written in their initial incident reports. They say when they arrived on the scene, they at first focussed their attention on Smith to make sure he was OK. They then walked to the roadway to look for Gamble.
Allen is the one who pointed Gamble out to the officers. He told the SLED agents Gamble was walking towards both officers with "a knife in his right hand and a stick in his left hand."
Morris instructed Gamble to drop the knife as Gamble continued to walk towards the deputies and made the comment "you are gonna have to shoot me," the report states.
Allen told the agents "the deputies instructed Gamble to drop the weapon several times before shooting (him)."
Deloris White, Gamble's sister, told SLED her brother was in her house on Oxford Drive when deputies arrived. She said he walked out carrying a stick she kept to secure her sliding glass door.
"Don't shoot my brother because he don't have a weapon," she yelled at the officers, according to the SLED report.
"Right after she heard the deputies say 'drop your weapon, sir' she heard three shots," the report states.
Deputy James Elmore said he arrived moments after the shooting and, for safety, he helped Morris and Lee-Wood place Gamble in handcuffs until EMS got to the scene.
Morris and Lee-Wood were on administrative duty while the SLED investigation took place but were allowed to return to patrols on Friday, according to Sheriff Lane Cribb.
: 7/25/2008
MSGROWNAND SEXY doesn't fail to show his/her ignorance at all. This is not about black and white, this is about right and wrong. Your personal vendetta with the law, officers and authority is very clear. And the point you were trying to make has failed. The only thing you accomplished was proving the prejudice you apparently have.
: 7/24/2008
If it had been Gamble who was stabbed, the whiners would say, "Where are the pOlice? It's always the black man who is victimized." Give me a freakin' break. He was coming towards them with a knife and stick. What if he had been tazed and died of a heart attack? Same difference. He asked for it.
: 7/24/2008
Is it just me...or did Luke just try to kill an innocent young man for simply sitting in his own front yard?!?!?! (in reference to MSGROWNAND SEXY) It's easy to blame the police if that's what you want to do, but let's not forget the whole story. Would your comments be different if the real victim in this crime had been killed?!?!?!
: 7/24/2008
Was the Taser broke? There are witness that know the exact story! Please stay anoynomous, they will kill u 2
: 7/24/2008
This issue does not surprise me at all, anytime it is a white officer that kills a black man, the police department find a way to cover it up. South Carolina is still the most prejudice state I know. I challenge lawyers or attorneys to look at the SC inmate site, Black men get a STIFFER punishment than white, regardless of the situation.People contact your federal government on this issue. Let's make history again, Make SC pay!