• Increased ECSO Presence
• Suspect Responds in Interview

A former employee of Urban Outfitters was arrested by the Edgefield County Sheriff’s Office, Friday, Jan. 30, for unlawfully carrying a pistol onto the property. According to an ECSO report filed on the matter, the ECSO was notified Friday of a man in the parking lot of the business who was in possession of a firearm. Upon arriving on the scene, deputies located the man, along with a bystander, near the suspect’s car. The man and the bystander complied when told to put their hands in the air, get down on their knees, and then lie down on the ground. A third person was discovered to be in the car, and that person, too, was detained. Upon being advised that they were being secured due to a report of someone having a gun on the premises, the man stated he had a concealed weapons permit that allowed him to carry the firearm. He then advised deputies where to find the permit and firearm on his person. Deputies did locate a loaded black .380 pistol and a Weapon’s Carry License on the man. However, the permit was a Georgia issued license, and South Carolina does not honor Georgia’s Concealed Weapon’s Permit. When advised of this, the man stated he was unaware of that fact. However, deputies told the man it is the carrier’s responsibility to know the law in regards to his permit and to know in which states it is honored.

The Advertiser was able to speak to the man arrested in this case. He again stated that he did not know South Carolina did not honor Georgia’s Concealed Weapon’s Permit at the time of the incident. However, he has since been advised that he can obtain a Utah license that will be honored by both states. As for why he carried the weapon onto the facility in the first place, the man told The Advertiser that due to recent anonymous threats of a potential shooting at the facility, he did not want to be on the premises unarmed should a gunman open fire. In speaking of those threats, The Advertiser posed that perhaps he was initially suspected of being that gunman when he was found to be carrying a firearm onto the scene. To this, the man replied that if he intended to shoot up the place, he would have brought more than one pistol.

As for those threats, a written warning was found on a bathroom wall at Urban Outfitters, Jan. 16, that stated “Warning: Feb. 02, 2015 stay home if you Don’t want to Die I’m shooting everything in my path ……”.   The author of this message has still not been identified. However, according to an ECSO spokesperson, due to the threats at Urban Outfitters, the ECSO has complied with the company’s request of additional patrol of the facility. Additionally, Urban Outfitters has hired off-duty officers as an added security measure.