SC woman charged with reporting robbery as April Fools joke
RICHBURG, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina woman is facing angry deputies and a criminal charge after telling her daughter she was caught up in a bank robbery, then confessed it was an April Fools Day joke.
Multiple media organizations reported that 55-year-old Laural Coleman was charged with breach of peace after a private joke went wrong.
Coleman called her daughter from inside the First Citizens Bank branch in Richburg Wednesday to say there was a man with a gun demanding money. The woman's daughter immediately called 911 to report the crime in progress.
Near the end of the call, the caller tells the dispatcher she received a text from her mother saying "April Fools."
Chester County sheriff's deputies had surrounded the bank with guns drawn thinking there was a bank robbery in progress.
Judge rejects "stand your ground" defense in SC shooting
LANCASTER, S.C. (AP) — A judge is rejecting a Lancaster man's claim that South Carolina's "stand your ground" law shields him from a murder charge in a 2013 killing.
The Herald of Rock Hill reports (http://bit.ly/1CqZydA ) prosecutors as saying a judge last week refused to declare 26-year-old Allen Massey is immune from prosecution. The law allows people to use deadly force to defend themselves while under attack.
Massey has been in custody since his arrest after the October 2013 killing Demarcus Robinson.
SC participating in study to see if tiger shrimp a threat
CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — There's concern about cannibal shrimp along the South Carolina coast.
The Post and Courier reports (http://bit.ly/1HH2kQS ) the state Department of Natural Resources is taking part in a regional study to determine if invasive tiger shrimp eat native shrimp.
Tiger shrimp are native to Asia and are about twice as large as native shrimp. They started turning up in South Carolina waters after Hurricane Irene four years ago. There have been reports the tiger shrimp eat local varieties and biologists are trying to determine if that's true.
DNR is asking commercial and recreational shrimpers to bring in samples of tiger shrimp so their stomach contents can be checked.
Tiger shrimp are farmed in the Caribbean and researchers suspect they were swept into the ocean during hurricanes and have been moving northward.