Police: 5 Dead, Including 3 Children, at South Carolina Home

A former soldier shot and killed an active duty member of the U.S. Army and three children at a home in South Carolina before killing himself, on March 22, 2023. Cal Cary/The Item via AP

COLUMBIA, S.C.—A former soldier shot and killed three children as they slept in their South Carolina home Tuesday night while their mother frantically sought help, authorities said. The ex-soldier then killed himself.

Charles Slacks Jr. also killed an Army soldier who worked with the children’s mother and happened to be at the home, Sumter Police Chief Russell Roark said at a news conference Wednesday.