Judge ruled against revoking Vista shooting suspect’s probation one day earlier

A man accused of shooting seven people in the Vista escaped by one day being put in jail for violating his probation on a year-old assault conviction.

John Earl Bates Jr., one of the men charged in a weekend shooting that injured eight outside of Empire Supper Club, had a probation revocation court hearing Friday, the day before the shooting.

A judge decided against taking away Bates’ privilege to remain free despite a Saluda County second-degree assault and battery conviction and sentence.

Bates, 28, was in court because he had failed to meet requirements of his probation, Peter O’Boyle, spokesman for the S.C. Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services, said Monday.

He had failed to pay fees, failed to report to his agent properly and had not follow the agent’s advice and instructions, O’Boyle said.

Bates was convicted in May on a charge filed in 2016, according to online court records. A judge sentenced him to three years in prison suspended to five years probation.

At Friday’s probation hearing, Circuit Court Judge Donald Hocker ordered Bates to continue his probation, stipulating “full revocation” if any more violations happened, according to documents.

Bates is charged with seven counts of attempted murder in the shooting that injured eight people in one of Columbia’s most popular entertainment districts. Three other men also were charged in the crime, which authorities say was driven by conflicts between two rival Newberry County groups.

Bates lives in Newberry and has a criminal history that dates back to his teens.

Warrants show that he opened fire in the Vista around 2:15 a.m. Saturday from a Mustang he was driving.

Richland County investigators are looking into whether the Vista shooting is related to another shooting that happened three hours later at a club on Broad River Road.

This story was originally published September 18, 2017 at 9:42 PM with the headline "Judge ruled against revoking Vista shooting suspect’s probation one day earlier."