Gun safety advocate speaks out after teenagers shoot, kill man in Rock Hill

ROCK HILL, S.C. (WBTV) - Days after a man was shot and killed inside a Rock Hill apartment, a local gun safety advocate is speaking out, pleading for parents and teens alike to help put an end to the violence.

Jack Logan, who has spent the past 12 years preaching against gun violence in his community, wants to see an end to such tragedies.

On Monday, WBTV reported on a homicide that involved four teenagers, none of whom were older than 15 years old.

Police said that the teens conspired to kill the man after he disciplined them hours before.

“Those teenagers who did this, as we speak their lives are miserable,” Logan said Wednesday night. “And they’re saying they wish they did not pick up a gun.”

He said that if guns are simply stored away and locked up, many similar incidents could be prevented.

“That would have prevented some wife, some mother, some father, and some children from losing their father,” Logan said. “In this state, 15-year-old boys and under in Spartanburg, now Rock Hill, Greenwood, [are] just picking up guns throughout the state.”

Gun violence is no new problem in South Carolina, but recent events involving teenagers getting their hands on guns is creating a cause for concern.

Logan’s message to parents with teenagers is simple: use a gun lock on your firearm or keep it in a safe, and more importantly, speak with your kids about the dangers of firearms, and let them know the real-life consequences involved.

At this time police in Rock Hill are still determining exactly how the teenagers got ahold of the gun used in Monday’s shooting, but they did confirm that it was obtained illegally.

Related: Police arrest 4 juveniles in death of 38-year-old man in Rock Hill apartment

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