Fake Irmo Facebook post continues to spread after homicide
The Irmo Police Department says a fake social media post is spreading across different platforms after a homicide shooting at a Kroger parking lot on Valentines Day.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) – The Irmo Police Department says a fake social media post is spreading across different platforms after a homicide shooting at a Kroger parking lot on Valentines Day.
“There were just so many things in this post that were incorrect or just mean spirited,” says Lt. Andrea Grinstead with the Irmo Police Department.
According to Irmo Police, the shooting left one person dead and another behind bars. The department warns someone is impersonating as the Irmo Police chief’s personal account. Lt. Grinstead says the chief would never post information from a personal account.
“Its either going to come through me as a press release or he would sit down like I’m doing with you right now and speak to a reputable news source,” says Lt. Grinstead.
The post has continued to spread over the past few days with over 200,000 views on TikTok. Lt. Andrea Grinstead says this comes as the victims family is grieving.
“This family has already gone through the most unimaginable thing you could think of and to use their tragedy and make up complete lies especially about a victim that is not here to defend themselves. I can’t even imagine what this has caused this family they’re already going through a lot,” says Lt. Grinstead.
Actions like these can be harmful to the department integrity, says Lt. Grinstead. “It really creates a lot of confusion. People are saying well Irmo says this but this post says this. . . it also could hurt our credibility because it looks like the chief of police but its not him, it makes it harder for us to get the messages out that we need to get out. “
Lt. Grinstead also says because the impersonator interfered in an ongoing investigation, used the police departments patch, and the chief of police name there will be consequences once they identify who is responsible.
