Teen in custody following shooting death of 60-year-old man

A 60-year-old man was shot to death under the carport at his North Spartanburg home Monday morning, and a teenager is in custody, according to the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office.

George Kevin Rush, a commissioner with the North Spartanburg Fire Department, was shot at about 6 a.m. on Willow Run Terrace, investigators said.

The victim’s wife had called 911 after hearing a gunshot and finding her husband shot and a 16-year-old boy standing in the carport, Sheriff Chuck Wright said.

The identity of the teenager, who has not been charged, has not been released.

It isn’t clear what kind of confrontation took place between the man and the teenager, Wright said.

“We’re trying to figure out if this was a robbery gone bad or something else. We don’t know,” he said.

The victim was a concealed weapons permit holder and deputies determined the gun found at the crime scene was his. Deputies believe it’s the same gun used in the shooting, Wright said.

Investigators were collecting evidence under the carport and around the home throughout the morning. A sheet was draped over two cars parked underneath the carport.

“Any time a guy and a woman are home and doing nothing but minding their own business and get killed in their own driveway, that’s about as bad a sit gets,” Wright said.

Neighbor Patricia Norris said the victim and his wife have always been friendly and looked out for each other.

“They don’t bother anybody,” Norris said.

She said the couple had lived in the home for about 20 years. She called the victim “a very loving man.”

Norris said she left for a morning walk just before the shooting.

“I just missed it,” she said. “It could have been me.”

Another neighbor, Barbara Williams, said she heard one gunshot Monday morning.

“This is a very, very good neighborhood to live in,” she said. “We’re a close-knit neighborhood. It’s such a sad situation.”