Memorial planned for 11-year-old Florence boy killed in shooting
FLORENCE, S.C. (WBTW) — A Florence elementary school will host a community gathering on Friday to honor a fifth grader who was killed in a shooting on Wednesday.
Scranton Elementary STEAM Academy announced on its Facebook page that 11-year-old Brentlee Crump will be remembered at a public memorial beginning at 6 p.m. on Friday.
“Brentlee was always smiling and always positive. He was a bright light at SESA and he will be missed tremendously,” the school posted to social media last Thursday.
Crump died after being shot in the stomach by a shotgun around 8 p.m. on Clover Hill Road in the Scranton area.
Authorities said the gun went off “for unknown reasons,” according to a Florence County Sheriff’s Office report.
When deputies got to the home, Crump had already been taken by EMS to McLeod Hospital, where he later died. They spoke with a man who said he was standing beside the house when he fired his shotgun into a nearby tree.
The man said he had the weapon in his hands near his side when it fired again. The man ran up to Crump and called for help while trying to stop the bleeding, according to the sheriff’s office.
Deputies also spoke with a woman who said she was inside the home when she heard a pop-like sound, but didn’t think it was gunfire. She heard it again, and then other children came in screaming.
The woman told deputies she performed CPR on Crump after calling 911.
No arrests have been made in the investigation, which is ongoing.
Crump played baseball with the O’Zone in Coward. He loved the outdoors, hunting and fishing with family, according to his obituary.
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Adam Benson joined the News13 digital team in January 2024. He is a veteran South Carolina reporter with previous stops at the Greenwood Index-Journal, Post & Courier and The Sun News in Myrtle Beach. Adam is a Boston native and University of Utah graduate. Follow Adam on X, formerly Twitter, at @AdamNewshound12. See more of his work here.
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