Sep. 15—It's been 25 years since gunshots rang out at the R.E. Phelon plant in Aiken.

When Sept. 15, 1997 was over, four plant employees were dead: Esther Sheryl Wood, 27; Charles Griffeth, 56; David Moore, 30; and Ernest Filyaw, 31; after a disgruntled former employee opened fire shortly after 3 p.m.

Stan Vance, 49; John Mucha, 60; and Lucious Corley, 44, were injured in the shooting.

The plant, located near the intersection of University Parkway and S.C. Highway 19 had opened in 1980. Its employees made flywheels and ignition systems for lawn and garden products and chainsaws under the names of Poulan, Homelite and Briggs and Stratton.

Robert Wise had been working at the plant as a maintenance mechanic — "I kept the machines running" for around five years at the time of the shootings, he said Tuesday evening. He said he stayed on for about another year before he took a job at the newly opened Bridgestone plant.

Wise said he was friends with the people who were killed and that he knew the shooter, Hastings Arthur Wise, no relation.

'You just don't think this kind of thing is going to happen to you'

The shootings began at around 3 p.m. on Sept. 15, 1997.

Vance, who worked as a security guard, was the first person shot. He was working the main gate and was supposed to meet with Hastings Wise to return a box of personal items to him.

Wise shot Vance in the upper abdomen and tore out the phone lines in the guard station, according to a 2004 South Carolina Supreme Court opinion written by Justice E.C. Burnett III.

Vance was temporarily paralyzed in his legs, made unable to work and suffered constant intense pain that required medication, Burnett said. Vance also suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and had to see a psychiatrist weekly.

Wise also reportedly told Vance that he had things to do after he arrived at the plant and shot him.

Wise then made his way to the personnel office by entering a side door to the plant and entered the human resources area.

"He shot personnel manager Charles Griffeth, age 56, twice in the back, killing him as he sat at his desk," Burnett wrote.

Griffeth was the man who had fired Wise in July.

He was remembered by friends for his easy smile and kindly manner according to a Sept. 17, 1997, article in the Aiken Standard.

Robert Wise said Griffeth was about the best human resources manager the plant had ever had.

Freda Holt was supposed to be in Griffeth's office when he was shot and killed.

She told the Aiken Standard in 2017 that a maintenance worker had stopped her to ask her a question, which kept her out of Griffeth's office.

"I call that gentleman my guardian angel," she said.

Holt said she heard the shots, wasn't sure where they came from until she saw Wise, and then crawled into an empty shelf in her office for cover.

"Appellant [Wise] held his pistol to the head of a secretary as he exited Griffeth's office, tore out the secretary's telephone line, and continued into the plant," Burnett continued.

Wise made his way to the tool and dye area.

Will Shaw was in the hall to get some parts when he said he saw a couple of flashes.

"Actually, I heard four or five gunshots before that and saw a couple of flashes," Shaw said in a Sept. 16, 1997 Aiken Standard article headlined "This time it wasn't somewhere else." "Somebody said, 'That's a gunshot.' And then I saw a dude walking toward me and another guy. He pointed the gun toward us and fired two shots and I got the hell out of Dodge."

The same article noted that many employees recounted seeing Wise, flashes or hearing gunshots.

"He fired his pistol repeatedly at the employees, killing David W. Moore, age 30, and Ernest L. Filyaw, age 31," Burnett wrote. "Lucius Corley and John Mitchell were wounded. Mitchell was shot in the chest, and suffered extensive and severe internal injuries which required multiple surgical procedures."

Moore was remembered by another employee for his love of racing and being a really nice person.

Robert Wise added he would do anything to help others.

Filyaw had a conversation with his pastor the night before the shooting where he said he was a changed man, according to the Sept. 17, 1997 article.

Wise began walking toward another area of the plant as employees ran for their lives.

He shot Wood in the back and leg as she stood near a door.

"She was fatally shot after she fell to the floor, described by the prosecutor as an execution-style slaying," Burnett wrote.

Robert Wise said Wood was about the most popular woman at the plant.

Her father said he would always remember Wood, known as Sheryl to her friends, for her smile and pretty eyes, according to the Sept. 17, 1997 article.

Wise continued to fire and was observed reloading several times.

Investigators would find four empty, eight-round magazines at the scene, plus four full magazines and 123 additional rounds in Wise's possession.

"Some witnesses related Appellant was 'screaming something' unintelligible during the shootings," Burnett continued.

One employee who requested not to be identified said the situation was really scary and added, "You just don't think this kind of thing is going to happen to you."

Wise went to an upstairs office, shooting through windows and doors on the way. He then swallowed or attempted to swallow an insecticide in an apparent suicide attempt.

Aiken County Sheriff Michael Hunt, then an Aiken Department of Public Safety officer, was one of the first officers to arrive on the scene. He was only about a mile away when he got the call, according to a 2017 interview with the Aiken Standard.

He and other law enforcement officers got a ballistic shield out of his car and started to go in the building at the loading dock, but the flood of people leaving hindered them some before they got in.

The officers found Wise in the upstairs office in a semi-conscious state. He was taken to the hospital.

"I reckon he was too much of a coward to kill his own self with a gun; he had a gun with him and more ammo in a little pouch he was carrying, but he chose to drink that stuff instead," Hunt said in 2017.

'Three years, four months and 17 days'

Wise was indicted in August 1998. He was convicted in 2001.

He did not present witnesses or evidence during the guilt or sentencing phases of the trial. Wise refused before trial to identify for his attorneys' family or friends as favorable witnesses.

Burnett noted that Wise's refusal prompted the judge to have Wise examined by a second psychiatrist (Wise had been examined and found competent before the trial), who testified he was competent.

Wise was convicted of four counts of murder, three counts of assault and battery with intent to kill, burglary and four counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime.

He wouldn't let his attorneys call witnesses to testify that life imprisonment without parole was the appropriate sentence.

He received death sentences on each count of murder, 20 years consecutive for each count of assault and battery with intent to kill, 15 years concurrent for burglary, and five years concurrent on each weapon possession conviction.

Wise told the court before his sentence was read that he didn't want to take advantage of the court by asking for mercy. He said it was a fair trial and that he committed the crimes.

His attorneys Greg Harlow and Carl Grant argued during the sentencing phase that Wise shouldn't be put to death. Harlow argued Wise should get a life without parole sentence so that he could be studied. Grant asked the jurors to use their consciences and choose mercy over more killing.

"Three years, four months and 17 days," said Robert Wise, referring to his long wait for justice in an Augusta Chronicle article.

He added Tuesday that he was against the death penalty at the time of the shootings but said the shootings changed his opinion.

"He got what he deserved," Vance said in an Augusta Chronicle article. "That's what I wanted to hear — death. He didn't deserve to live."

An automatic appeal to the Supreme Court upheld the conviction and the sentences. Wise's attorneys then appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, who declined to hear his case.

Wise wrote the state supreme court and said the appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court was made against his wishes. He waived his right to further appeals.

Wise was lethally injected on Friday, Nov. 4, 2005 after having a last meal of lobster, coleslaw, french fries, banana pudding and milk.

Witness testimony at Wise's trial indicated that he may have been upset because he was denied a promotion to the tool and dye area from his job as a machine operator. Also, at the trial, testimony revealed that Wise, a Black man, felt discriminated against because of his race. His attorneys had evidence that he had LSD in his system when the shootings occurred but he told the trial judge that he was in total control of his faculties at the time of the shootings.

Robert Wise remembered Hastings Wise as a very good guy who carried a Bible with him. He added that Hastings had experienced some problems and was let go.

Hunt attended the execution with Solicitor Barbara Morgan.

"I went with Solicitor Barbara Morgan. She was the solicitor then, and I guess for me it was just like (for) some of those family members; it gave us some closure that he would meet his maker for what he did to this county and those citizens' families," Hunt said in 2017.

Robert Wise added that a group of former plant employees stay in contact to keep alive the memory of their fallen coworkers.

"Hastings Wise, you did not win ... you may have taken some of us, but we've survived and we've carried on our lives," Holt said in 2017.