On Tuesday, March 21, a former soldier went to his ex-wife’s house and shot a man and three children before turning the gun on himself, according to authorities.
Sumter Police Chief Russell F. Roark said the former military man, Charles Slacks Jr, entered the woman’s home in Sumter, South Carolina, around 10 pm on Tuesday, using a key he still had.
Slacks tracked down his ex-wife’s coworker in her backyard and shot him dead before he went upstairs to where the three children were sleeping, with his ex frantically following him close behind.
Her phone, according to the police chief, was upstairs. Slacks pointed the gun at her, and she dashed to the backyard to use her coworker’s phone to call for help. The woman couldn’t find his phone, and it wasn’t long before she heard shots fired.
The ex-soldier had just killed all three children before turning the gun on himself on the top of the stairs.
The children, two boys and a girl, were identified as Aason Holliday Slacks, 6, Aayden Holliday Slacks, 5, and Ava Holliday, 11. The man killed was identified as Command Sergeant Major Carlos Evans, 38.
Slacks was Ava’s stepfather, and the biological father of the two younger brothers.
According to the police, Evans was also a military member, and he and Slack’s ex-wife were allegedly not in a romantic relationship and were simply coworkers.
Slacks began his career as a tracked vehicle mechanic in 1999 and retired in 2007. He was a civilian employee at the US Army Central. Evans was also associated with US Army Central.
The nearby Shaw Air Force Base, where the US Army Central relocated in 2011, has a strong military presence in Sumter.
