Court records show alleged Orangeburg Wilkinson shooter claims other guns were on campus as well

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WIS) - Thursday marks one year since three students were injured in a shooting at Orangeburg Wilkinson High School.

Court documents show the then-14-year-old alleged shooter claimed other students had guns on campus that day as well.

The now 15-year-old Kemondre Glover faces three charges of attempted murder, bringing a gun to school property and possession of a weapon during a violent crime.

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In April, a judge ruled Glover would be tried as an adult. His records entered the public index in July.

A WIS review of the publicly available records found prosecutors arguing Glover obtained the gun in Atlanta while visiting family, that the shooting was pre-meditated, that Glover bragged about the shooting before it happened and that he strategically waited for the victims.

Department of Juvenile Justice records within the case file show Glover alleged other students brought guns to the campus the day before and the day of the shooting, and he felt threatened by those students.

The Orangeburg County School District did not immediately respond to a request for comment but did institute a series of safety reforms in the aftermath of the incident including metal detector enforcement and a clear backpack policy.

The Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Department did not respond to a request for comment.

Glover’s attorney Joshua Koger Jr. was not immediately available for comment.

WIS spoke with United Methodist Church Orangeburg Superintendent Ken Nelson about the incident and the aftermath in the last year.

He said faith leaders have been active in working to galvanize the community, but more work needs to be done to teach children about conflict management.

“We’re not helping them figure out how to engage each other. When they have to make decisions about when someone has said something to them that causes angst within them, how do they respond and what they have control over is themselves. Not what other people do. So helping students to figure out how to engage, how to respond rather than react, makes a difference,” he said.

Additionally, Nelson said parents should take initiative, and the public needs to provide and publicize after-school activities.

“Parents are busy trying to make a living day to day, right? And try to make sure the place that at the end of that the place where they send their child is a safe place and they’re going to have all their needs. But it’s also true that at the end of the day when students have to go home, where is the support network in the community?”

A trial date for Glover has not been announced.

1st Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe declined an interview request but pointed WIS to his statement released in April:

First Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe announced that the 14-year-old charged in the August 18, 2021 school shooting at Orangeburg-Wilkinson High School will be waived up to General Sessions Court and treated as an adult. Solicitor Pascoe filed a motion to waive the juvenile. A hearing was held last Thursday in Orangeburg, and Family Court Judge Anne Gue Jones ruled today that the juvenile will be treated as an adult on his 3 counts of attempted murder. Attempted murder carries a penalty of up to 30 years without parole. The State produced evidence during the hearing that the shooting was gang-related involving students associated with rival gangs, the Bloods and Folk Nation. The Solicitor’s Office has not released the name of the defendant.

“Today is far from being a great day in South Carolina. True justice is not done when it is necessary to waive a 14-year-old. Today is another wakeup call for our State. Every society gets the criminal it deserves. And in South Carolina, we have 14-year-olds shooting at each other, children going to gang meetings instead of school, and repeat offenders out on bond. If we do not get more community involvement, better criminal laws, and major judicial reform soon, the violent crime problem will continue to get worse.”

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