SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCBD) Thursday night, Summerville Town Council met to discuss ways to make the Saw Branch Trail safer after a tragic incident occurred on the trail last month.
Mayor Touchberry tells News 2’s there have been previous safety concerns but last month’s tragic incident prompted the city to meet to make the trail safer for the public. Thursday night, the city made a motion to pursue annexing parts of the trail that are currently outside their jurisdiction.
The popular Summerville trail is around 7 miles long and runs next to the Sawmill Branch Canal. Last month, a woman was killed, and another person was injured along the trail near the Newington Plantation swimming pool after they were shot. The suspect, who was illegally night hunting at the time and claims he thought the victims were deer, is facing several charges. This isn’t the first time the town has seen a tragic incident occur on the trail.
“There have been some concerns raised at different points in time but there was an incident that happened a couple of weeks back that was really tragic, and I think it draws a lot of attention on ways we can improve and make sure all of our residents who enjoy that trail is as safe as possible,” said Summerville Mayor Russ Touchberry.
Currently, the trail closes at dusk and there is no lighting on the trail. At Thursday’s night, Council meeting, city leaders discussed buying areas of land or annexing the trail to improve public safety. Currently, the town of Summerville owns about 80% of the trail but the remaining 20% Summerville police does not have jurisdiction over it.
“We have most of it but it’s in and out of our jurisdiction and we are always the first ones to respond and the first ones on scene so there have been incidents were proactive in our policing in that area but there more we can do in the way of surveillance lighting possible call boxes and what not and that something I’ve been a strong proponent on for a couple years,” said Summerville Police Chief Douglas Wright.
The council said it will not be an easy process, but they will pursue a memo of understanding with Dorchester County to receive jurisdiction over the remaining 20% of the trail so they can then implement safety features and prevent incidents like the tragic shooting last month.
“I think it’s time we can collaborate with Dorchester County and the state and possibly have some of this done we certainly don’t want another incident like this to occur but if we do, we want to have the technology and resources to catch perpetrators,” said Wright.
Mayor Touchberry wants residents to know their safety is number one priority and he welcomes their feedback on how to improve the trail.
“When you think about municipal government that is the foundation public safety and the greatest asset, we have in our community is our people and we want to take care of them,” said Touchberry.
If you missed Thursday night’s meeting, you can submit feedback on how to improve the trail here.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
