Gena Parker
Photo by The Gaffney Ledger
Two people were found shot to death at a home at 114 Buck Shoals Road in the northwest corner of Cherokee County.
Photo by The Gaffney Ledger
Investigators from the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office, Spartanburg County Sheriff's Office and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division converged at 114 Buck Shoals Road in the northwest corner of Cherokee County on Wednesday afternoon after two people were found shot to death inside.
Photo by The Gaffney Ledger
Cherokee County Sheriff Bill Blanton is asking for the public's help in investigating Wednesday's shooting at a home in the northwest corner of Cherokee County. A blue van of unknown make and model was seen leaving the home's driveway at about 3 p.m., about 30 minutes before the bodies were found.
Gena Parker
Scott Parker
GAFFNEY — Anderson School District Five officials are mourning the loss of a Calhoun Academy of the Arts teacher who was found bound and shot, along with her mother, in a Cherokee home Wednesday afternoon.
Betty Bagley, Anderson School District Five superintendent, said Cherokee County sheriff’s officials had identified one of the two women as Gena Linda Parker, a third-grade teacher at the academy in Anderson.
Cherokee County neighbors said Hazel Linder and Gena, her daughter, were found by Gena’s husband, Scott Parker. Scott Parker is a former T.L. Hanna High School football coach, and is now an assistant principal at Ninety-Six High School in Greenwood County.
Cody Sossaman, editor of the Gaffney Ledger newspaper, said he lives near Linder on Buck Shoals Road.
He said the discovery of Linder and Parker following the shooting death of 63-year-old Kline Wilson Cash, who lived on Battleground Road, had the neighborhood “worried and scared.” The two homes are about six miles apart.
Cash was found by his wife after being shot Saturday evening in his home. Both houses have “Hay for Sale” signs in the yards.
Officials have declined to speculate about a connection between the signs and the killings.
“We don’t live very far from Hazel,” Sossaman said. “She’s just a nice lady. I can’t imagine how or why this has happened.”
Bagley said, “We’ve lost a wonderful, master teacher in Gena. She was always enthusiastic, caring, and loving, both for her children and for her school. She was the same person, year after year after year. She was enthusiastic, and very strong in her faith.”
Mary Michaels of Gaffney, who taught Gena Linder and Scott Parker at Gaffney High School, said both were extremely popular and loved as High School students.
“Gena and Scott, they were two of the finest. He played football here.”
“They were very involved in the school. I know Gena was a member of the Beta Club. They were very popular and extremely well thought of. We in Gaffney followed his career at Hanna because we thought so much of him.”
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Comments » 14
The_Sundance_Kid writes:
RIP
That's horrible.
May the perpetrator be brought to swift and harsh justice!
You are in my prayers Coach Parker.
jacketsfan76 writes:
God Bless the Parker and Linder families. Such an unbelievably senseless tragedy. May God comfort them in a way only He knows how. My heart hurts for all of them!
acemurdoc113 writes:
God bless the Parker family. The world lost an angel in a teacher's body. From a kid you tried to apostrophes to, love forever.
cain98 writes:
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
tybee writes:
All of the families are in my prayers. May God bring you all peace.
DOWJONES writes:
Man I hate to hear this, my prayers are with Coach Parker and the family.
clemson_girl writes:
First of all, there was no reason to make that rude comment about Ms Bagley, no matter your feelings of her. This was a tragic situation and no reason to do that.
Second of all, we should pray for this family at this terrible time.
hg187 writes:
Why isn't anyone making fun of Parker's death? Everyone was so quick to make jokes about the other people whose recent deaths made the news.
cain98 writes:
See I said pray first, and Bagley second - but you said Bagley first, and pray second. Now you tell me who has it wrong. I call them like I see them - and that's the truth......The main thing is to pray for both of the families, and also pray that justice will be served.
cain98 writes:
"Scott Parker is a former T.L. Hanna High School football coach, and is now an assistant principal at Ninety-Six High School in Greenwood County."
GET IT RIGHT AIM - HE WAS THE ATHLETICS DIRECTOR< NOT JUST A FOOTBALL COACH! ALMOST EVERY STORY YOU PRINT HAS ERRORS! THANK GOD I DON"T WASTE MY MONEY BUYING A SUBSCRIPTION TO YOUR PAPER>>>>
AND THE NEXT TIME YOU THROW A "HOMETOWNER EDITION" IN MY YARD AFTER BEING ASKED NOT TO, I WILL CALL THE SHERIFF"S OFFICE AND REPORT YOU FOR LITTERING!
Renko writes:
We have lost a great teacher who loved what she did. Ms. Parker taught my daughters and they loved her. Our prayers are with Scott and the boys during this very difficult time.
zeldaz writes:
This is a horrible tragedy and this family needs to be wrapped in the arms of love and prayers. They have mine.
snapper_two writes:
I hope they catch this idiot quick before he can do this horrible thing to another family. Our prayers are with the families.
Cain98, you would need to call 260-5577 to get environmental services (litter control) not the ACSO.
Werewolf writes:
This is a terrible situation and, as usual, there are still morons like cain98 that have nothing better to do than point out trivial things in newspaper articles and wage political attacks. Cain98, there is a link at the bottom of every story on this site that you can click and make your corrections or complaints known privately. How about show this family some respect and use it? This isn't the right place for your little temper tantrums.
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