Hunter dies when his muzzle-loaded shotgun discharges
GAFFNEY, S.C. (AP) — The Cherokee County coroner says a man who was trespassing to hunt turkeys died when his muzzle-loaded shotgun discharged and struck him in the arm and shoulder.
Coroner Dennis Fowler says the land owner notified authorities Saturday that he had found a body, who was identified as 42-year-old Brian James Gilliam of Gaffney.
Fowler says it appears Gilliam was climbing out a deep ravine on large unstable rocks when he slipped and the shotgun discharged. He says Gilliam walked about 40 yards to a cleared area, where he was found.
The coroner's investigation showed Gilliam and a friend became separated after they trespassed onto property to hunt turkeys illegally. Fowler says it appears Gilliam left a flashlight on a tree stump, pointing upward, to alert his friend of his location.
Buddhist monks creating a mandala on the SC coast
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) — A group of Buddhist monks from India is visiting the South Carolina coast to create a sand mandala at an art museum.
Work on the mandala, in which grains of colored sand are placed in geometric shapes and spiritual symbols, begins on Monday continues for five days at the Burroughs and Chapin Art Museum in Myrtle Beach.
In keeping with Buddhist tradition, when the mandala is completed the sand will be tossed into the ocean in what is considered a ceremony of worldwide healing.
The monks are of Tibetan descent and organizers say one of the reasons for their tour is to promote awareness of threatened Tibetan traditions under Chinese rule.
Suspect who escaped from W.Va. hospital to be moved to SC
WESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A suspect who escaped from a state psychiatric hospital in West Virginia is being moved to a facility in South Carolina.
Brooke County Circuit Judge Ronald Wilson initially ordered 29-year-old Rocco Jesse Zuccaro to be returned to William R. Sharpe Jr. Hospital in Weston. Media outlets report that Wilson revised the order on Friday at the request of prosecutors and the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources.
Prosecutors and the department say Correct Care LLC Columbia Regional Care Center in Columbia, South Carolina, is a more secure facility.'
Zuccaro was at Sharpe to restore competency for trial when he escaped last week. The Burgettstown, Pennsylvania, resident is charged with a 2013 fatal shooting in Brooke County.