THE MENTALLY DISABLED IN SOUTH CAROLINA AND THE NATION HAVE NOWHERE TO TURN
According to NBC News “ Half of People Killed by Police Have a Disability: Report "Police have become the default responders to mental health calls”Half of People Killed by Police Have a Disability: Report (nbcnews.com).
REPORT
I have spent my adult life working to bring Racial, and Religious harmony in the global arena. I have been a voting member of the NAACP and the AFL-CIO SC Faith and Labor Committee, and an affiliate of the World Conference of Mayors. Now, as Director of the Global Partnership for the Advancement of Racial and Social Justice I now have teams of experts to accomplish my goals of Racial and Social Justice in both this country and the nations of the African Union starting with Kenya.
This is just a short report on my investigation in Spartanburg, South Carolina of the police shooting of a Mentally Disabled 38 year old man.
I picked up the Herald Journal newspaper when I arrived in Spartanburg, South Carolina. No mention of the fact that Darius Holcolm, a 38 year old mentally challenged individual, was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He was known to walk his mother’s street where he lived shadow boxing and talking to himself. From my investigation I believe that the officers were well aware of his condition.
Mr. Holcomb served 18 years in prison. He had locked some people in a cooler along with a child. He was convicted of burglary and child abuse. On his release from prison he was required to visit a sexual offender’s office. Sometimes he would go when he was on his medication, but when he was not he would refuse to go.
Officers tried to serve a warrant for not going to his sex offender appointment but were not able to execute the warrant. They arrived back on Thursday February 2 2023 with a swat team and two K9s.
I interviewed a witness who had come to get some cigarettes from his mother who lives across the street from where Mr. Holcomb lived with his mother and other relatives.
According to the witness, Ronald Henderson, when he arrived across the street the street was lined with police cars. According to him, there were only 2 black officers. He said that the Captain seemed to stay outside during this situation and a second officer who, the witness believes, did not go in the house.
The witness saw the victim's mother and sister taken out of the house in handcuffs and placed in police cars screaming ‘let me talk to my son, my brother.” At one point it is believed that the mother called social services but they said they wouldn't respond.
The witness saw one dog with a Police handler go to the back of the residence and one dog with a police handler enter the residence. Then, while Darius Holcolmb was barricaded in his room, the witness heard four or five shots..
The witness could see through the front door the victim being worked on. He could not see who was treating Mr. Holcomb.
He observed the dog come out of the residence under his own power pulling his handler. The dog was put in the police vehicle and, the witness said, remained in the police vehicle for around five hours and was still on the scene of the shooting when the witness left the scene after 5 hours.
End REPORT ###
The death by police shooting and killing of mentally disabled Darious Holcomb in Spartanburg SC February 3 2023 demands a national review of police procedures in relation to mentally challenged people. This death must be the linchpin towards a national effort to bring equity in education, economic opportunity, as well as Justice for all..
Family of man shot and killed in Spartanburg Co. standoff speaks (wspa.com)
Spartanburg family asks for transparency after deadly deputy involved shooting (msn.com)
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In South Carolina, police shoot more Black people than whites (greenvilleonline.com)
Stark racial bias revealed in police killings of older, mentally ill, unarmed Black men | Berkeley News
SPARTANBURG — Family members of a relative killed by law enforcement who they say knew he was schizophrenic questioned why officers went to their home to serve arrest warrants in what escalated into a deadly standoff.
The family of 39-year-old Darius Holcomb gathered outside the agency’s headquarters Feb. 6 to provide more details about the afternoon a Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Deputy shot and killed him.
Holcomb’s sister, Taja Holcomb, described her brother as a kind man who kept to himself. He had schizophrenia, which she said law enforcement was aware of.
“He kind of just wanted to stay to himself, just listen to his music, and pretty much just do anything you ask him … just an all-around kind person,” she said.
Officers arrived at Darius Holcomb’s mother’s home that afternoon to arrest him on unspecified warrants.
Taja Holcomb said it was because he was considered a sex offender. The sheriff’s office has not said what the warrants were for, but court records show he had multiple charges in 2022 for failure to register as a sex offender.
Taja Holcomb said authorities had deemed him a sex offender based on a kidnapping charge.
“They knew — the sheriff’s office knew, the sex offender’s office knew — that it had nothing to do with any sexual act,” she said. “But instead, they kept this over his head.”
In response to questions by The Post and Courier, sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Kevin Bobo said the agency “will not be answering any questions” nor would it release any video footage as the family has requested so long as a SLED investigation into the shooting remains active.
Darius Holcomb was released from prison in 2019 following an 18-year sentence from a 2002 case. He was convicted on three kidnapping charges, an armed robbery and other charges.
There are no sex crimes charges against Darius Holcomb listed in Spartanburg County general sessions court.
In a Feb. 2 statement from agency spokesperson Corporal John Burgess, the sheriff’s office claimed Holcomb threatened officers with a knife when they arrived to arrest him, and a Feb. 3 news release from the State Law Enforcement Division said he threatened them with a “sharp object.”
He barricaded himself in a bedroom, and officers removed his family from the home. His mother and sister said they were at one point handcuffed by officers.
Taja Holcomb and her and Darius Holcomb’s mother, Terria Holcomb, said they weren’t shown warrants until about 45 minutes after law enforcement arrived and were told they were interfering with the officers.
Taja Holcomb said law enforcement wouldn’t let them speak with him to deescalate the situation, despite knowing he had schizophrenia. She called mental health professionals on the phone, but they said they couldn’t do anything.
With him barricaded, a standoff ensued and a sheriff’s office SWAT unit arrived. Law enforcement released tear gas into the home, and eventually broke down a door to enter and sent a police dog into the bedroom.
According to the SLED news release, Holcomb “began to attack the dog with a sharp object ,” while the sheriff’s office said Holcomb “began stabbing” the dog.
The family disputed claims that Holcomb attacked the dog. They said multiple neighbors said they witnessed a dog leave the residence and stay outside for hours, despite claims it had been stabbed.
The family repeatedly called for the sheriff’s office to release the body and dashboard camera footage from the incident.
The deadly shooting comes as the sheriff’s office has come under heightened scrutiny following deaths at the Spartanburg County Detention Center, which it runs. Four people have died there since Oct. 3, 2022.
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