Police have arrested a suspect in connection with a shooting at a busy shopping mall in South Carolina’s capital on Saturday that left 14 people injured.
Columbia Police Chief W.H. “Skip” Holbrook said that 22-year-old Jewayne M. Price, who was one of three people initially detained by law enforcement as a person of interest, is to remain in police custody and is expected to be charged with unlawfully carrying a pistol.
Fourteen people were injured during the shooting at Columbiana Centre, Holbrook said in a news release.
Photo: SC Lash Extensions via REUTERS
The victims ranged in age from 15 to 73.
No fatalities have been reported, but nine people were shot and five people were injured while attempting to flee the mall, Holbrook said.
Police said a 73-year-old victim continues to receive medical treatment, but the others have been released from hospital or are to released shortly.
“We don’t believe this was random,” Holbrook said. “We believe they knew each other and something led to the gunfire.”
Investigators believe that at least three suspects displayed firearms inside the mall, but are working to determine how many suspects fired weapons.
At least one firearm was seized, police said.
Daniel Johnson said that he and his family were visiting from Alabama and were eating in the food court when they first heard shots ring out and started seeing people running.
Johnson said people were screaming for their children and spouses, knocking over tables in the food court as they fled.
“Everybody was trying to get outside,” Johnson said. “When I was coming out, you could see baby strollers turned over, people’s phones and left keys. It was kind of a hectic situation.”
Johnson said that he gathered his wife, daughter and son and began heading toward the exit after letting the crowd clear out for a bit.
“My biggest thing was — and not to sound selfish — was to make sure that our family was okay and to get them out safely, because this is not something that we love to do for Easter weekend,” he said.
There was a heavy police presence in the area hours after the shooting, although officers began letting more traffic through the streets surrounding the shopping centers and strip malls that are usually packed on weekends.
Officers were also stationed outside a nearby hotel designated as a reunification area for people at the scene of the shooting and their families.
“Today’s isolated, senseless act of violence is extremely upsetting and our thoughts are with everyone impacted,” Columbiana Centre said in a statement. “We are grateful for the quick response and continued support of our security team and our partners in law enforcement.”
The team behind the long-awaited Vera Rubin Observatory in Chile yesterday published their first images, revealing breathtaking views of star-forming regions as well as distant galaxies. More than two decades in the making, the giant US-funded telescope sits perched at the summit of Cerro Pachon in central Chile, where dark skies and dry air provide ideal conditions for observing the cosmos. One of the debut images is a composite of 678 exposures taken over just seven hours, capturing the Trifid Nebula and the Lagoon Nebula — both several thousand light-years from Earth — glowing in vivid pinks against orange-red backdrops. The new image
Canada and the EU on Monday signed a defense and security pact as the transatlantic partners seek to better confront Russia, with worries over Washington’s reliability under US President Donald Trump. The deal was announced after a summit in Brussels between Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa. “While NATO remains the cornerstone of our collective defense, this partnership will allow us to strengthen our preparedness ... to invest more and to invest smarter,” Costa told a news conference. “It opens new opportunities for companies on both sides of the
ESPIONAGE: The British government’s decision on the proposed embassy hinges on the security of underground data cables, a former diplomat has said A US intervention over China’s proposed new embassy in London has thrown a potential resolution “up in the air,” campaigners have said, amid concerns over the site’s proximity to a sensitive hub of critical communication cables. The furor over a new “super-embassy” on the edge of London’s financial district was reignited last week when the White House said it was “deeply concerned” over potential Chinese access to “the sensitive communications of one of our closest allies.” The Dutch parliament has also raised concerns about Beijing’s ideal location of Royal Mint Court, on the edge of the City of London, which has so
OVERHAUL: The move would likely mark the end to Voice of America, which was founded in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda and operated in nearly 50 languages The parent agency of Voice of America (VOA) on Friday said it had issued termination notices to more than 639 more staff, completing an 85 percent decrease in personnel since March and effectively spelling the end of a broadcasting network founded to counter Nazi propaganda. US Agency for Global Media (USAGM) senior advisor Kari Lake said the staff reduction meant 1,400 positions had been eliminated as part of US President Donald Trump’s agenda to cut staffing at the agency to a statutory minimum. “Reduction in Force Termination Notices were sent to 639 employees at USAGM and Voice of America, part of a
RSS