POLICE SAY SUSPECTS CHOSE SITE

Mall Shoppers Weren't At Risk, Department Says

North Charleston police say innocent people were never in harm's way when a
drug sting turned deadly Wednesday night in a parking lot outside Northwoods
Mall.

A North Charleston officer shot 20-year-old Jammar Antwan West of
Charleston once in the chest at about 6:30 p.m. after he fired one
shot at police. West died at the scene. No officers were hurt.

Undercover detectives set up the drug sting, but West and 18-year-old
Lavon Drayton, the targets of the sting, chose the mall parking lot,
said police spokesman Spencer Pryor.

Officers had to let the two men choose the location in order for the
sting operation to work.

"Ideally we would do these things out in the middle of a desert
somewhere, but realistically that's not going to happen," Pyror said.
"Ninety-nine percent of the time, we don't get to pick the location."

Pryor said the targets of drug stings almost invariably choose a
populated area.

"The drug dealers don't want to go to a secluded area," he said. "They
want there to be plenty of other people around."

Pryor said safeguards, including officers observing the sting from a
distance, were in place to keep any bystanders from being hurt. The
sting occurred in a parking lot not far from Belk department store.
Police said no shoppers were nearby at the time.

"These officers didn't go there with the expectation that this
gentleman was going to produce a gun," Pryor said.

After the undercover detectives completed the drug deal, uniformed
officers moved in to make the arrest.

Pryor said West, who was a passenger in a car driven by Drayton, then
got out of the car and fired one shot at a uniformed officer.
Investigators later found a second gun hidden inside the vehicle.

Pryor said the officer, who has not been publicly identified, had no
choice but to use deadly force.

"He felt his life was in danger," Pryor said. The officer has been
assigned to administrative duties while the State Law Enforcement
Division conducts an investigation of the shooting.

Officers at the scene recovered about 2 ounces of cocaine with a
street value of about $6,000.

West was charged last year with several drug-related offenses,
including trafficking drugs and possession with intent to distribute.
He also was charged with possessing a firearm during a violent crime.

Drayton has no previous record but was charged with several
drug-related offenses, including possession with intent to distribute.

The shooting isn't the first time an undercover drug buy has ended in
death in the Lowcountry. In May 2000, Charleston County narcotics
officers fatally shot 20-year-old Kenneth Coaxum during a cocaine buy
outside a convenience store on Dorchester Road in North Charleston.
Officers shot Coaxum after he reportedly struck two deputies with his
car as they moved in to arrest him.

Wednesday's shooting was the second police shooting at Northwoods Mall
in little more than a year. Robert Lamont Lloyd, who was wanted on
drug charges, was shot four times by North Charleston police in the
parking lot in August 2003 after leading officers on a car chase and
pointing a gun at police. Lloyd recovered from his wounds.

In a 2001 incident, Charleston police officer William S. McDaniel was
shot when a handcuffed shoplifting suspect at Citadel Mall was able to
grab the officer's gun during a struggle. McDaniel was shot in the
right side, but the wound was not life-threatening.

POLICE SHOOTINGS North Charleston police shootings from 1995 to
present:

September 1995: An officer fired at two unidentified men and
missed.

April 1997: Lawrence Barron was shot in the leg after firing at a
police officer and wounding two patrons of a Spruill Avenue nightclub.

August 1999: Ronald Burris was shot and wounded by officers after a
high-speed chase through Charleston and North Charleston in a stolen
car.

September 2000: An officer fired three shots at Mario Jevar King and
missed in a confrontation with the pistol-wielding armed robbery
suspect on Spruill Avenue.

October 2000: Edward Snowden was fatally shot by two officers who were
called to his aid at a Dorchester Road video store. Snowden was being
attacked by a group of men and was holding a gun when police arrived.

December 2000: Saint Julian German Jr. was wounded by two officers
after he charged at them with a gun after a chase into Charleston.

May 2001: Richard Spearing was fatally shot after attacking an officer
responding to a domestic disturbance call at a Token Street apartment.

October 2001: An officer fired a shot and missed a suspect who grabbed
for the officer's gun during a struggle after a traffic stop on
Fairwind Drive.

October 2002: Demaul Cortez Simmons was wounded by gunfire after
shooting at two police officers at a Sumner Avenue mobile home park.

August 2003: Robert Lamont Lloyd was shot four times after he
reportedly pointed a gun at two officers on Northwoods Boulevard after
a car chase. November 2003: Asberry Wylder was fatally shot by police
after he stole meat from a nearby supermarket and stabbed an officer
in the chest as police tried to apprehend him.

August 2004: A 15-year-old was wounded after reportedly trying to run
down officers with a stolen truck after a chase through the
Chicora-Cherokee neighborhood.

November 2004: Jammar West was fatally shot after reportedly firing at
officers during an undercover drug buy in the parking lot of
Northwoods Mall.