TERRORIZED

Emergency medical personnel rush Stephen Tyler's daughter Abby to a waiting helicopter to be airlifted to Spartanburg Regional Medical Center. Stephen Tyler was shot to death. His daughter, who was also shot, remained hospitalized Friday morning.
By TIM GULLA
Ledger Staff Writer
tim@gaffneyledger.com

Two days, two horrific scenes.

Just a day after an elderly woman and her daughter were found murdered inside a Buck Shoals Road home Wednesday, the apparent work of the same killer who targeted a prominent peach grower last Saturday, a father and his teenage daughter were shot inside his City of Gaffney business.

Stephen Hyland Tyler, 48, of Farm Wind Road, was killed inside the Tyler Home Center at 612 E. Frederick St. on Thursday evening, Cherokee County Coroner Dennis Fowler confirmed.

Tyler's 15-year-old daughter, identified by family friends as Abby, was shot in the head and was rushed by the Regional One air transport helicopter from a landing zone in the parking lot of Gaffney Middle School to Spartanburg Regional Medical Center. An update on Abby's condition was not immediately available at press time.

Two unidentified women embrace Thursday night outside Tyler Home Center in Gaffney after learning Stephen Tyler and his daughter had been shot. Mr. Tyler was killed. His daughter remains hospitalized. Abby Tyler just recently completed her sophomore year at Gaffney High School.

Fowler confirmed that Tyler's wife and older daughter, along with an employee, discovered the latest heart-breaking find at about 7:15 p.m. Thursday.

The scene was shocking to bystanders, hundreds of whom lined the streets to witness the latest tragedy besetting Cherokee County.

Apparent family members and friends of the Tylers embraced each other, in tears, as investigators roped off the entire city block around the business with crime scene tape, shutting down traffic on East Frederick Street, Dr. L.M. Rosemond Lane and East Floyd Baker Boulevard.

Traffic was reopened by 5 a.m. Friday but a half-dozen officers remained, guarding the scene.

ABBY TYLER Gaffney Police Chief Rick Turner could not be reached for immediate comment at press time.

Investigators interviewed one woman near the scene at length and even showed her a photo lineup of possible suspects. The woman declined to comment to The Gaffney Ledger after her talk with police wrapped up.

While speculation ran high, police weren't saying whether Thursday night's shootings were the work of the same person wanted in connection with the murders of 83-year-old Hazel Linder and her 50-year-old daughter Gena Linder Parker, both of whom were killed inside Linder's home at 114 Buck Shoals Road on Wednesday afternoon, or the June 27 slaying of 63-year-old peach grower Kline Cash inside a Battleground Road home.

A source indicated there was a similarity between Thursday night's shootings and Wednesday shootings, but the detail could not be officially confirmed.

Cherokee County Sheriff Bill Blanton said during a Thursday morning press conference that police believe the murders of Cash, Linder and Parker were the work of the same person.

Updates will be made available online at www.gaffneyledger.com as they become available.