A 16-year-old was injured and two people were arrested after at least 75 gunshots were fired in a northeast Columbia neighborhood Tuesday evening, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said Thursday.
About 80 youths met in parking lots near a community pool in the Villages at Lakeshore community before multiple gunmen “indiscriminately” fired weapons, including automatic weapons, Lott said during a news conference providing updates on the shooting that was first reported Wednesday.
“That’s something you see or hear on the nightly news about what’s going on between Israel and Hamas, but this is right here in Richland County,” Lott said.
He said it was “only by the grace of God” that more people were not injured.
The shooting was planned, but a motive has not been made public, according to Lott.
When officers responded to calls from residents around 8 p.m. Tuesday, several vehicles drove away and individuals ran on foot. Officers identified 17-year-old Treshawn Keller as a person they saw running with a gun. Officers chased Keller on foot and arrested him. According to the Richland County Sheriff’s Department, the charges against Keller include assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, unlawful possession of a machine gun and possession of a stolen handgun.
Police made another arrest on Thursday morning. Details about the person’s name and charges have not been released. Officers also recovered three guns, including a stolen gun that had been modified with a Glock switch, an illegal device that can turn a handgun into an automatic weapon.
This is the second shooting in the Lakeshore community in the past year, Lott said.
According to Lott, it’s also part of a larger pattern of youth becoming involved in gun violence in Richland County and across the country.
Among other recent shootings involving young people, Tuesday night’s shooting echoes an incident that occurred last year when nine people were shot at an after-prom party in Meadowlake Park. Lott said the number of shots fired and the fear the community felt during Tuesday’s shooting “brings back the horror” of the Meadowlake Park incident.
The sheriff’s department plans to make more arrests as the investigation continues. Lott said the juveniles will be charged as adults.
He asked community members who live on Hardwood Drive, Lakevillage Drive, Longtown Road or Killian Green Drive to help identify the suspects by sharing video from doorbell cameras or other cameras with the sheriff’s department.
