The killing spree began last Saturday about 10 miles from Tyler Home Center, where peach farmer Kline Cash, 63, was found shot in his living room. Investigators said it appears he was robbed, but they have not determined if anything was taken in the other killings.

Cherokee County, home to about 54,000 people, had just six homicides in all of 2008, and half that the year before.

Residents have "their guard up and their gun handy," said state Sen. Harvey Peeler, R-Gaffney, who recalled the area being terrorized once before, in the 1960s, by a serial killer dubbed the Gaffney Strangler. Otherwise, Gaffney is most famous for a giant water tank shaped like a peach that can be seen from Interstate 85.

"There is no greater fear than the fear of the unknown and nobody knows. You can cut the tension with a knife," Peeler said. "People are locking their doors, even in broad daylight."

The Fourth of July is a busy weekend, with thousands of people expected to attend fireworks displays in several communities.

"You want to live a normal life," Phillips said as she stood outside a grocery store. "But you just can't."

Every available police officer will work the weekend, Blanton said, acknowledging that there is "real fear in the county." He urged people to take precautions such as going out in groups and calling 911 if their cars break down and they are stuck on the side of the road.