Here’s what we know about the SC man accused of Sumter mass shooting, killing three children

The man who killed his young children, their half sister and a co-worker before killing himself Tuesday, police said, had just begun work as a civilian budget analyst with U.S. Army Central at Shaw Air Force Base.

Charles Slacks’ ex-wife and mother of his children, Aletha Holliday, was unharmed physically in the attack, which took place in her home around 10 p.m. She is a culinary management sergeant major with U.S. Army Central at Shaw and operates a bakery on the side.

Slacks, 42, also killed Command Sgt. Major Carlos Evans, 38, who officials described as Holliday’s co-worker.

Slacks began working for U.S. Army Central on Feb. 27, said Major Jason Welch, spokesman for the agency.

Court records show Slacks and Holliday were granted a divorce on March 2. They had been separated since January 2022.

Welch said Slacks served in the regular Army as a tracked vehicle mechanic from June 1999 to July 2006 at Fort Stewart in Georgia. He served two tours in Kuwait and Iraq — January 2003 to August 2003 and January 2005 to January 2006. He was wounded in Iraq and received a Purple Heart, the Army said.

When he left the Army he was a staff sergeant, Welch said.

In addition, Slacks worked a total of eight years, on and off, with the Department of the Army as a civilian at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii and Fort Bliss, Texas.

On his LinkedIn page, Slacks claims to have been a weapons instructor and involved in intelligence. He said he worked as a firing range technician at Fort Shafter in Hawaii, a training specialist at Fort Bliss, Texas, and a weapons and tactics trainer in Kabul, Afghanistan.

He also worked for two private security companies based in Virginia with ties to the military, he said. All of the jobs he listed on LinkedIn after he left the service lasted three years or less, with most being a year or so.

Slacks said he was an armed federal security officer with Paragon Systems Inc. for 10 months in 2015 and 2017 in Hawaii.

In December 2013 to January 2014, he said he trained soldiers in Kabul, Afghanistan on room entry tactics/close quarter battle, vehicle evacuations and motorcade operations.

“Maintained individual proficiency in firearms, protective operations, fixed site, and driving instructor skills in accordance with Department of State training doctrine,” he wrote. “Responsible for weapon instruction, training, and safety of over 500 personnel in accordance with Department of State standard operating procedures.”

He also said he worked from August 2010 until September 2011 as a firearms Instructor, responsible “for weapon instruction, training, and safety of over 900 personnel in accordance with DOS standards, policies and guidelines.”

He said he was an expert on a variety of weapons — Glock 19, M4, Shotgun, M249, M240B and AK-47.

Sumter Police said he used a handgun on Tuesday in the mass shooting at his ex-wife’s home. Found dead in their beds were his children Aayden Holliday-Slacks, 5, Aaron Holliday-Slacks, 6, and his wife’s daughter Ava Holliday, 11.

Welch said he could not confirm any of the jobs Slacks listed other than active duty mechanic and his most recent budget analyst post at Shaw.

Sanders’ father and a friend did not respond to a request for comment.

On Feb. 4, Sanders wrote on his Facebook page, “You can tell how dangerous a person is by the way they hold their anger inside themselves quietly.”

Holliday posted several pictures of her with her children on Facebook amd wrote, “From our family…thank you for your prayers, condolences, and expressions of love. We just want to share beautiful pictures with you of Ava, Aason, and Aayden. We love them and will keep them alive in our hearts and minds. Please continue to pray for us.”