SC: Digital Evidence Exonerates Man who Shot Travis Draper in Self Defense ~ VIDEO

U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- On August 5th, 2021, on Southport Road near Spartanburg, South Carolina, Travis Draper, 41 years old, was found dead in his vehicle.

He had a gunshot wound.

From wsav.com:

Clevenger identified the victim as 41-year-old Travis Antonio Draper of Pacolet.

Roebuck Fire Chief Brian Harvey says crews were called to the scene of a crash on Southport Road and found the man with a gunshot wound.

Spartanburg County Sheriff Chuck Wright said authorities are investigating the case as a possible road rage incident.

People were outraged at the killing.  The following was published from an interview on Monday, August, 9th, 2021, where people met to celebrate Travis Draper’s life.

From foxcarolina.com:

“He was a gentleman, he wasn’t no thug, he wasn’t no gangster or in the streets or anything like that. This man was a family man and a great friend. And I mean he was just a well-known individual. I know that many, many people around here is feeling pain for the loss, they’re hurt,” said Jamaal, who has known Travis for more than 20 years.

It has become a cliche. The deceased is always a saint, always a wonderful father.

As this author noted before, there are extremely dangerous people among us. They disguise themselves to look “ordinary”. It makes their life easier. Many people who know them never see the rapacious interior until after they are victimized.

The Sheriff’s Department investigated Travis Draper’s death.  They found the shooting was in self-defense. There was a protest.

From eminetra.com:

Spartanburg, South Carolina (WSPA)-A protest took place in Spartanberg on Saturday after the sheriff’s office did not prosecute the shooter who killed the man on Southport Road.

Family and friends say they don’t believe that the 41-year-old Travis Draper found has brought complete justice. Shot dead in his car on August 5th.

The Sheriff’s department did an excellent job. The evidence was incontrovertible. The victim who shot Travis Antony Draper in self-defense did not know Draper had been hit, or that he had died, until later.

He had exhibited prudence and driven away from the scene after his single defensive shot had stopped the attack. He called his wife and let her know of how he had nearly been killed.

A short time later, the victim’s wife saw the news coverage and made the connection. She contacted her husband. They contacted an attorney, a prudent move. The attorney contacted the Sheriff’s office to explain the situation and arrange for interviews and the handing over of physical evidence, just hours after the attack by Travis Anthony Draper.

The investigation did not stop there. The Sheriff’s Office obtained surveillance video, social media posts, phone call records, the physical evidence from the autopsy and crime scene. They interviewed Travis Draper’s wife.

There was a hint in 2017, four years ago.  

Travis Antonio Draper was arrested for domestic violence on February 21, 2017, in Spartanburg, SC, when he was 36.

It was only a hint. Many who are arrested are innocent. The Sheriff revealed much more. When Draper was shot, he was on the phone with his wife. She was pleading with him not to pursue the victim. From the video:

“Mrs Draper was on the phone telling her husband, please don’t do that, leave it alone, he didn’t hit your car, go to work.”

A wife knows her husband. This sounds like a plea from long experience with a violent man.

When Draper was found in his car, a handgun was on the seat beside him. He was shot in the armpit, with no wound in his arm. The geometry was such he had to have his arm raised to be hit in the armpit and not the arm, exactly as the victim described the situation. Travis Draper was pointing a gun at the victim, who he had aggressively pursued when Draper was fatally shot.

The Sheriff had surveillance video of the victim attempting to flee from Draper. Draper pursued him, driving very aggressively, almost striking an uninvolved vehicle, driving on the wrong side of the street, passing on the wrong side, and using the median to pursue the victim. Then Draper drove up next to him, with the passenger side window down, and pointed a pistol at him.

But Draper was the one who was shot. He must have expected an unarmed victim.

After the protest, the Sheriff invited the Draper family and Spartanburg City Council member Monier Abusaft to see the video.

The protests stopped. The Draper family asked the video not be released to the public. Link to video of sheriff  on Facebook.

• Most violent predators are not violent all the time or in predation mode all of the time.
• Most wolves are loyal to their pack and kind to their pups.

The United States became great because citizens rose above family and tribal loyalty with loyalty to the country, the Constitution, and the rule of law.

A high-trust society was built from warring tribes and wilderness. High-trust societies allow for prosperity, freedom, and internal peace. Many are working hard to return us to warring tribes. It weakens us and makes prosperity and freedom fragile.

The digital age is restoring societal controls which existed in villages. Everyone knew everyone, and it was hard to commit crimes anonymously. It is becoming difficult to commit crimes anonymously.

It is also harder to resist the state when it becomes tyrannical….

About Dean Weingarten:

Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30-year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.