COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Authorities on Monday announced the arrest of a second man in connection with Saturday’s shootout inside a busy shopping mall in South Carolina’s capital, one of two mass shootings that rocked the state over the Easter holiday weekend.
Marquise Love Robinson, 20, was taken into custody overnight and authorities are also seeking a third suspect, Amari Sincere-Jamal Smith, Columbia Police Chief W.H. “Skip” Holbrook said during a news conference. Both men face charges of attempted murder and nine counts of aggravated assault and battery.
Nine people were shot and another six injured in the rush to exit Columbiana Centre in Columbia, authorities said, with no fatalities reported. Holbrook said one person remained in the intensive care unit Monday.
Police said they did not believe the shooting was a random attack and that the three identified suspects knew each other. Holbrook said the men brought guns into the mall, with police seizing two handguns believed to be used in the shootout.
“Emotions took over, you had firearms that were introduced into the dispute, gunfire was exchanged and innocent people got injured in the crossfire,” Holbrook said.
The first person arrested in the shooting, 22-year-old Jewayne M. Price, was one of three people initially detained by law enforcement as a person of interest. Price’s attorney, Todd Rutherford, told news outlets Sunday that his client fired a gun at the mall, but in self-defense. Rutherford said Price faces a charge of unlawfully carrying a pistol because he legally owned his gun but did not have a permit to carry a weapon.
Price now also faces an attempted murder charge and nine counts of aggravated assault and battery, police said. He was in the Lexington County jail as of Monday.
Columbia police previously said on Twitter that a judge agreed Sunday to let Price leave jail on a $25,000 surety bond if he remained on house arrest with an ankle monitor.
Robinson is scheduled for a bond hearing Tuesday morning, according to police. Authorities have asked the public for help locating Smith, 21, of Columbia, who is also facing a charge of unlawfully carrying a pistol.
“This is not an indictment on gun ownership,” Holbrook said. ”This is an indictment on the availability of firearms on the street for people that have illegal intentions, nefarious intentions to use those firearms against others.”
Three mass shootings in the U.S. over the Easter holiday weekend — two in South Carolina and one in Pennsylvania — capped a monthlong spate of gun violence across the nation.
In South Carolina, at least nine people were shot early Sunday at Cara’s Lounge in Hampton County, according to South Carolina’s State Law Enforcement Division. No one was reported killed in the violence at the nightclub.
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GOPUSA Editor: Apparently there were three shooters. The original story is below. Price was not the only shooter but the question of why he was released on low bond still remains.
Saturday’s South Carolina mall shooting made national headlines and with good reason.
Fourteen people were injured, including nine who reportedly suffered gunshot wounds. So, considering that, it might surprise some to learn that the suspect has already been released.
The Columbia Police Department said on Twitter that Jewayne Price, 22, is now on house arrest. It said has been released on a $25,000 surety bond. Price has been ordered to wear an ankle monitor, according to police, but can travel to work while under house arrest. He has also reportedly been ordered to not contact any of the victims.
He was reportedly charged with unlawful carrying of a pistol, following the incident.
Three people were reportedly detained in the aftermath of the incident, but two were released, leaving Price as the only detained suspect, reports said.
No fatalities were reported, but 14 people were injured Saturday at Columbiana Centre.
Nine of those suffered gunshot wounds, according to reports, while five were injured while trying to get away from the incident. Their list of injuries included a head injury and broken bones, according to CNN.
A 73-year-old woman reportedly remains hospitalized following the incident.
Police said Saturday they believed that at least three suspects “displayed guns inside the mall,” and that the individuals who took part in the shooting knew one another. They said that they did not believe it was an isolated incident. Columbia Police also asked witnesses to call 803-545-3525 with any information they might have regarding the incident.
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The inmates really are running the asylum aren’t they? And the criminal justice system, too.
ESPECIALLY judges like this cretin.. I wonder, did his law degree, come out of a crackerjack box?
So 14 people were shot in the mall and one of the perps is caught and then released on a 25K bond! Wow, what do we have to have happen to keep a shooter locked up?!?! If those 14 people had been shot and killed, I wonder what the bail would be – 50K, 100K, what??? No wonder we cannot stop these random shootings and attacks, there is no real penalty for the perp.
WAKE UP AMERICA AND USE YOUR VOICES AND VOTES TO DEMAND THAT THESE MURDERING THUGS RECEIVE THE PUNISHMENT THEY DESERVE!!!
14 injured, 9 shot 5 injured trying to get away. They were still injured due to the shooting event. Got to remember, it is not the person, and they do have the gun still locked up. He just was not strong enough to control the gun and keep it from shooting people.
So glad they took that gun away. Now he can’t possibly be a threat to anyone.
BE white or conservative…
this cant be the shooter cause blacks do not commit crimes.
Disgraceful.
Well, seeing the judge was black, its not just disgraceful, but downright RACIST.
YOU CAN BET had it been a white (or conservative) person that got caught, no mere 25k would have gotten THEM out of jail on bail..
“He was reportedly charged with unlawful carrying of a pistol, following the incident.”
They have his gun and the bullets from the victims. Although not stated in the article, they must know he was not the shooter. We shouldn’t be like CNN and rush to judgement until we actually know the facts.
Yes, the article is misleading. He was not the shooter.
Where’s the 14 counts of attempted murder!?!