:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/archetype/3CQEC2JAMRDLDDSTOW6PTFDLRI.jpg "Soldier, 3 children killed in mass shooting at sergeant major’s home 4")
An Army civilian employee killed a U.S. Army Central soldier and three children at his ex-wife’s home in Sumter, S.C., around 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to Army and law enforcement officials.
The assailant, Charles Slacks Jr., who previously served in the Army, died by suicide shortly after the killings, said Sumter Police Chief Russel Roark in a Wednesday afternoon press conference. The children’s mother, Sgt. Maj. Aletha Holliday, survived the attack unharmed, Roark said.
Authorities described the shooting as “domestic-related,” though they cautioned the investigation is in its early stages.
Those killed, according to Roark, include:
- A U.S. Army Central soldier, 38, whose identity Army Times is withholding pending next-of-kin notification.
- Aayden Holliday-Slacks, 5.
- Aaron Holliday-Slacks, 6.
- Ava Holliday, 11.
Slacks and Holliday were divorced on March 3, the Post and Courier reported.
This story is developing and will be updated. This story also contains reporting from the Associated Press.
Davis Winkie is a senior reporter covering the Army, specializing in accountability reporting, personnel issues and military justice. He joined Military Times in 2020. Davis studied history at Vanderbilt University and UNC-Chapel Hill, writing a master’s thesis about how the Cold War-era Defense Department influenced Hollywood’s WWII movies.
