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Thursday, November 21, 2002
Vol. 114 No. 46 Since 1889 50 Cents
Robbery suspect killed City gets
at Highway 74 business grant for
By GARY STEWART sewer lin e
Editor of The Herald
BY ABIGAIL WOLFORD
Staff Writer
An alleged attempted armed robbery Friday
morning at a Kings Mountain area business result-
ed in one man dead, another arrested and five
Kings Mountain schools in a code red /lockdown.
According to Chief Deputy Paul Cash of the
Cleveland County Sheriff's Department, Randall
Wright, an employee of Blue Ridge Enterprises at
5123 East Dixon Blvd., told officers that two Black
men attempted to rob him about 9:20 a.m.
Upon arrival, officers found one suspect,
Kenneth Ray Gregory
of Jonesville, SC, had
been shot. He was
transported to
Cleveland Regional
Medical Center and
later died.
A second suspect,
Jerome Davis, fled the
scene on foot and was
taken into custody
about a half-hour later.
He was jailed under a
$35,000 bond on a
charge of attempted
armed robbery with a
dangerous weapon.
Cash said at first
officers were led to
believe that there were up
to six suspects, thus
approximately 50 law enforcement personnel
including sheriff's deputies and State Troopers,
along with a helicopter and K-9 dogs searched a
large rural area near the business, located beside
Overcash Antiques.
Cash ordered Bethware School locked down
iY because officers were told a third Black suspect
had also fled the scene, and police received a call
that a man was seen walking on the opposite side
of Highway 74 near Dennis #3. Kings Mountain
High School, Middle School, Intermediate School
and West Elementary were locked down by the
Kings Mountain Police Department. Law enforce-
ment personnel were stationed at each school to
See Robbery, 3A
The City of Kings Mountain has been
awarded a $219,632 Community Development
Block Grant (CDBG) to provide public sewer
access to the second phase of the West Gold
Street Extension project area.
“We annexed the area several years ago, and
we wanted to provide sewer and hookups to
them,” said Mayor Rick Murphrey.
Before they can start building, they will
have to look for an engineering design and
take bids for the job. Then, of course, the
work will have to be approved by City
Council, said Murphrey. The construction will
probably start next spring, he said.
“We have worked with the CDBG in Raleigh
for years. They've helped us in the past,” said
Murphrey. Most notably, they provided
$700,000 for water extensions in Hillside and
money for first half of the Gold Street exten-
sions.
“We want to make water and sewer avail-
able to residents within the city limits,” said
Murphrey. “We're working on that.”
Of course, he added, Kings Mountain
already provides all of the water and sewer
lines they are required by law to provide.
Normally property owners would have to pay
to run lines to the nearest water or sewer
extension. The grant will save people money
from having to pay for their own lines.
“This will bring the system closer to the resi-
dents so they can hookup to the pipe,” said
Murphrey.
Randy Wright talks to
reporters at crime
scene.
Sib de tet sods Ld St
SeeCity3A
fais
Grover to share
$1.7 million grant
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
£15
GARY STEWART / HERALD
Detectives work crime scene as helicopter flies overhead searching for sus-
pect who fled the scene on foot. Suspects’ vehicle is parked in front of build-
ing.
: Grover Elementary School has received one-
fourth of a five-year, $1.7 million 21st
C O O S O C Cc O W i i O Yr S aA Cc Century Grant to provide quality after school
programs for children who need extra aca-
demic help.
By GARY STEWART
Editor of The Herald
While police officers and school officials
would never want to see crime cause a
school safety plan to be put into effect, all
were pleased to see how well their plan
worked-during Friday's lockdown at five
Kings Mountain District schools.
Shortly after an attempted armed rob-
bery at a Highway 74 business resulted in a
shooting death and reports that there were
suspects on the loose in the rural commu-
nity, Cleveland County Chief Deputy Paul
Cash ordered a code red/lockdown at
Bethware Elementary, which is located
about a half-mile from the crime scene.
Kings Mountain Chief of Police Melvin
Proctor also ordered a lockdown at nearby
Intermediate Schools, and West
Elementary.
As it turned out, the report of a third sus-
pect on the loose was false and children
were never in danger.
But, as Schools Supt. Larry Allen noted,
“if we make a mistake we'll do it on the
side of safety rather than to take a chance.”
“It’s important that the community know
that our school officials take this very seri-
ous,” Allen said. “Parents should trust us
to know that we're willing to look at the
best interest of their children.”
A special committee that includes repre-
sentatives of all three county school school
systems, law enforcement and other emer-
gency agencies, devised the county’s safe
school plan two years ago. Friday was the
first time it was put in action.
Cash said he never felt any children were
in danger, but he put the plan into place
within five minutes after arriving at the
crime scene and being told that a suspect
had fled the scene.
“When people are running from police
and not wanting to be found, they‘re not
likely to run into a school,” Cash said. “But
desperate people do desperate things.
“As the crow flies, Bethware is only
about a half mile or so (from the scene),
and as soon as I got there I had them notify
the school. I went to Bethware and met
with the principal, Mrs. Mary Accor, and
told her what we had and assigned officers
to the school.”
Four or five officers literally surrounded
the school, even though officers were run-
ning the suspect toward Shelby rather than
toward Bethware.
See Lockdown, 2A
Principal Jackie Lavender and John Goforth,
Executive Director of Instruction and
Curriculum, made the announcement at
Monday night's monthly School Board meet-
ing at Central School.
The county’s three school systems and other
agencies around the county collaborated to
apply for the grant. The lead agency will be
the Communities in Schools program.
The steering committee will meet Monday
to begin planning the programs. There will
also be sites in Cleveland County, which
received half of the grant money because its
system is twice as big, and Shelby, which is
also receiving one-fourth of the funds.
Goforth said the program should be imple-
mented during the second semester of this
school year.
At least 40 children in Grover School will be
Kings Mountain High, Middle and
BY ABIGAIL WOLFORD
Staff Writer
Rev. Dale Swofford does a little
bit of everything. He acts, writes
and does magic tricks. He is also
a family man with two young
sons and the current pastor of
Grace United Methodist Church
in Kings Mountain.
Swofford is not new in Kings
Mountain. He was born here and
moved when he was three years
old. He grew up in Salisbury,
attended Crest High School and
was a member of Boiling Springs
United Methodist Church. He
KINGS MOUN
Swofford man of many talents
said he moved back to Kings
Mountain six years ago, after
spending time in Bermuda,
Wilmington and Orlando.
Although he attended what was
then Gardner-Webb College, he
graduated from UNC-Charlotte -
with a degree in Business
Administration and a concentra-
"tion in business law.
He served in the navy for sever-
al years and then worked as a
yacht broker in Wilmington,
doing boat shows from New York
to Miami each year. He said he
first felt called into the ministry in
Wilmington during Hurricane
AIN PEOPLE
Hugo.
“God talks to people in different
ways. With me, it took a huge
hurricane. I'm not saying I'm
hardheaded, but that’s what it
took to wake me up,” said
Swofford.
He had just been laid off at the
marina where he worked when
Hugo hit. Although Wilmington
was not in the direct line of the
hurricane, Swofford said that he
was the only one at the marina
where he had worked who was
certified to handle yachts in
heavy weather. The marina lost
See Swofford, 3A
Swofford as Joseph
BE
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hel
HOMETOWN
BANK
| FIRST NATIONAL BANK
Celebrating 128 Years
Kings Mountain
300 W. Mountain St.
704-739-4782
Gastonia
Shelby
529 New Hope Road 106 S Lafayette St.
704-865-1233
704-484-6200
See Grover, 3A
k and dark
§
jacket. He was armed with
a handgun. a
No injuries were reported.
Anyone with information
about this incident should
call KMPD at 734-0444.
Bessemer City
225 Gastonia Hwy.
704-629-3906