JUSTICE MIGHT GET SLED REPORT ON RAID

Solicitor 'Heard' FBI Is Investigating Goose Creek Incident; Bureau Won't
Confirm That

A SLED report detailing the drug raid by police at Stratford High School in
Goose Creek is expected to end up in the hands of the U.S. Justice
Department once the solicitor reviews it.

Solicitor Ralph Hoisington of Charleston said Tuesday he "anticipates
giving" the State Law Enforcement Division report to the Justice
Department, which he already has alerted about the case. Hoisington has not
decided whether charges will be filed on the state level.

When asked if the FBI is investigating, Hoisington said, "I have heard they
are."

Although the FBI will not confirm it is investigating the case, Tom
O'Neill, spokesman for the FBI's Columbia division, explained the way the
process works when it receives a complaint: The FBI, he said, conducts a
preliminary investigation and turns over its findings to the Justice
Department. The Justice Department determines whether a violation has been
made or if additional information is needed, O'Neill said.

Hoisington has read SLED's 200-page report but wants to review it again
before taking further action. He said he referred the case to the Justice
Department after watching the video taken at the high school in which Goose
Creek police pulled guns on students and forced them to the floor during
the Nov. 5 sweep.

Hoisington said the tape contained images he thought the Justice Department
should explore.

"I saw a group of individuals restrained and having guns pulled on them,"
he said.

The sweep, which received national media attention, outraged many. Some
parents at an NAACP meeting shortly after the incident said they were
considering filing lawsuits. Others said they planned to transfer their
children to other schools.

Berkeley County Superintendent Chester Floyd said Stratford High Principal
George McCrackin invited police to the school after students, staff and
surveillance tapes reported suspicious activity in a hallway of the school
before classes started.

He said McCrackin did not know police would bring guns to the school during
the raid.

Goose Creek's mayor and police said they will not comment until SLED
completes its probe.