Police responded to 12 incidents at former Whittemore Elementary School since September
The Horry County Police Department responded to 12 calls in the past six months at a historically Black elementary school that is set to be demolished after it caught fire earlier this month.
In a Freedom of Information Act request made to Horry County on March 14 by the Sun News, there were 12 records of police incidents in the area of the school on Maple Avenue and Horry Street in Conway.
Half of those reported calls were traffic violations or stops. One call was for a “wanted person/vehicle” on Oct. 1 at Maple and Dillon streets.
On Jan. 20, Horry police officers responded to a suspicious person incident at Maple Avenue and Marion Street. A month later, on Feb. 20, officers responded to a nuisance incident at Horry and Rhue streets, a block away.
The most recent call, according to the request, was on March 14, for a trespassing incident on Marion Street and Maple Avenue.
Whittemore Elementary School, a former segregation-era “equalization” school, was set ablaze March 7 and kept city firefighters at the site for nearly 18 hours.
Conway City Council voted to move forward with demolition of the main building at a public meeting held on March 13.
A “person of interest” has emerged as authorities continue to investigate the cause of the fire, Conway Police Chief Dale Long said at the meeting.
The city took ownership of the Whittemore site in 2017, when Horry County Schools relinquished it. The 70-year-old building at 1904 Maple St. needed $30 million worth of renovations even before the fire, and city leaders have long said using public dollars to preserve it was not feasible.
Evidence of human habitation including food wrappers, fecal matter and drug paraphernalia was found throughout the building by investigators.
A multi-disciplinary team will first review evidence gathered about the fire.
“They hopefully might be able to shed some light on whether it was just somebody trying to stay warm, somebody trying to cook, or whether someone had criminal intent,” Long said in the meeting.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division took over the criminal investigation after Conway Police Chief Dale Long requested its assistance.
No arrests have been made. There are no further updates on the SLED investigation as of Monday.
