Around 1:15 a.m. Sunday morning the Pocahontas County Sheriff placed two automated calls to eight hundred phone numbers near Laurens. The call advised people to collect their car keys and lock their houses while officers pursued someone four miles south of Laurens. It also directed people to not call back for more information. At 2:00 a.m. a second call said the person had been apprehended.
Today I called for more information. Here's how it went:
Caller: I got two calls in the middle of the night this weekend . . .
Sheriff spokesman (agitated voice): Yeah, you and 800 other people.
Caller: What was that all about?
Spokesman: We were looking for someone and we thought he might have a gun and we didn't know where he was. Do you have a problem with that?
Caller: Yes, I don't want to be called next time this happens unless it's in my neighborhood.
Spokesman: It was in your neighborhood.
Caller: It was 7 miles away.
Spokesman: Well we didn't know if he might have been picked up (by a motorist).
Caller: There must be lots of people who might have a gun and might have car. You don't know where they all are either.
Spokesman: I'll make a note of your call. It probably won't happen very often.
