Family wants answers in death of SC ex-mayor

COTTAGEVILLE -- Relatives of a former small-town South Carolina mayor shot and killed by a local police officer said Tuesday they are reeling from the death and want answers about the officer's action.

"The family feels that no matter how you do the math, it appears that Bert, an unarmed man, was shot and killed by a police officer who was trained to handle the exact situation that he found himself in," Mullins McLeod, an attorney in nearby Walterboro, told The Associated Press. "If an altercation did occur, then the officer should have used a Taser and not shot and killed the father of two young children."

As is customary in cases involving law officers, state police are investigating the shooting that happened Monday on a dirt road in the town of about 700, about 35 miles northwest of Charleston, but have released no details

Shot by the officer who fired once, Reeves, 40, was taken to Colleton Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead, said Colleton County Coroner Richard Harvey.

The officer's name has not been released, and the town's mayor did not immediately return a message Tuesday.

Reeves was no stranger to run-ins with local authorities. In March 2006, he was ticketed for going 103 mph in a 55 mph zone in this town known for its strict enforcement of speeding laws.

Four months later, Reeves was charged with driving under the influence after his truck struck a row of mailboxes and overturned, hitting a drainage culvert. The then-mayor suffered broken ribs, a broken collarbone, shattered pelvis and head injuries but eventually recovered and returned to office.

The homecoming was short-lived. The DUI charge was dropped after a blood-alcohol test was negative, but subsequent testing revealed that, at the time of the wreck, Reeves had in his system a byproduct created when the body breaks down tetrahydrocannabinol, also known as THC, the mind-altering chemical in marijuana.

Reeves resigned from office in December, after those tests were made public, and returned to his construction business. Authorities said there was not enough evidence to prosecute him on a charge of driving under the influence of drugs.

On the streets of this small town, where pockets of elegant houses tucked behind wrought iron gates alternate with mobile homes on winding dirt roads, Reeves' shooting was the topic of conversation Tuesday.

"There was no reason to shoot him," said Sue Nussman, 65, expressing confusion at the cause of the shooting. "Everybody knows Bert."

McLeod, who grew up with Reeves and has previously served as Cottageville's town attorney, said he was trying to cope with the loss of his friend.

"A friend for me is a friend for life," McLeod said of Reeves, who is divorced. "He was a wonderful father, a loyal friend, and somebody who I'll miss an awful lot."

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Meg Kinnard reported from Columbia, S.C., and can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/MegKinnardAP