Serial Killer Has South Carolina Residents on Edge

Cherokee County, home to about 54,000 people, had just six homicides in all of 2008, and half that the year before.

This image originally provided June 28, 2009 by the Cherokee County Sheriff's Department shows a...

This image originally provided June 28, 2009 by the Cherokee County Sheriff's Department shows a sketch of a possible suspect in a series of recent murders in Cherokee County, S.C. Sheriff's deputies searched Friday, July 3, 2009 for a serial killer blamed for four deaths over the past six days as terrified residents wondered who might be next. (AP Photo/Cherokee County Sheriff's Department via Spartanburg Herald Journal)

(AP)

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. Otherwise, Gaffney is most famous for a giant water tank shaped like a peach that can be seen from Interstate 85.

"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 Fourth of July is a busy weekend, with thousands of people expected to attend fireworks displays in several communities.

"You want to live a normal life," Phillips said as she stood outside a grocery store. "But you just can't."

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Every available police officer will work the weekend, Blanton said, acknowledging that there is "real fear in the county." He urged people to take precautions such as going out in groups and calling 911 if their cars break down and they are stuck on the side of the road.

"If someone breaks into my house, I'm armed and ready," said Mike Daniels, 53, a retired Army sergeant. "And I won't hesitate to shoot first and ask questions later."

Hazel Smith, 47, said neighbors feel vulnerable.

"If he killed once, he'll kill again," she said sitting on the front porch with her friends. "Tonight, I'm going to stay inside and pray, pray a little harder that he gets caught."

The latest shootings happened less than a half-mile from the sheriff's office, where at least 30 investigators were already working on the case. Blanton said a profiler has suggested Tyler and his daughter might have been 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," Blanton said. "The good people of this community don't deserve that."