Michael Joseph Smith died exactly five years ago tonight, Dec. 7, 2007, in a gang-related shooting at the McDonald’s near the U.S. 521/I-20 interchange. His death spurred a conversation about how Kershaw County would handle gang-affiliation and prevention. Since his death, many Kershaw County entities have come together to apply for and implement Safe Schools/Healthy Students (SS/HS), a five year, $6 million federally funded program.