CHARLESTON, S.C. - A police officer and a paramedic were killed in a weekend shooting spree, the fourth time in three weeks that a law officer has been gunned down in South Carolina. <br>
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"It's very unusual anywhere in the state to have this number of attacks on police officers in such a short period of time," Police Chief Reuben Greenberg said Sunday. "We've been to three funerals in less than two weeks." <br>
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Dennis Elisha LaPage, 36, is the latest victim, gunned down in a Saturday night shooting that also left paramedic Anthony Pirraglia, 47, dead and a nurse wounded. <br>
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Two Beaufort County sheriff's deputies were killed in a gunfight Jan. 8 after responding to a domestic violence call in Burton. And an off-duty Horry County deputy was fatally shot Dec. 29 after he stopped on his way home from work to help a couple who were arguing. <br>
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In the current shooting, Marko Dupree Drayton, 19, of Charleston, was charged with two counts of murder, assault and battery with intent to kill and possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime, Greenberg said. <br>
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Pirraglia, a flight nurse who worked with the Medical University of South Carolina's emergency helicopter service, and Mandy Larson, an intensive care nurse at the university, were eating at a restaurant when they heard a traffic accident outside. <br>
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When they rushed to the scene and asked one of the drivers if he needed help, Drayton, without provocation, shot and killed Pirraglia with a .40 caliber automatic pistol, the chief said. <br>
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The gunman fled the scene and later shot LaPage, who was off-duty at the time and working as a security guard at a private dorm for area college students. Authorities do not think there was a confrontation between LaPage and the assailant. <br>
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Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. called the weekend shootings "a tragic reminder of what each and every one of our officers does each and everyday. They put on a badge, they go to work, they put their lives on the line to protect people of our community." <br>
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