Man shot at Columbia motel off North Main Street

Police are investigating after a man was found shot at a Columbia motel not far from Palmetto Health Richland hospital early Wednesday morning.

Officers responded to Budget Inn on Sunset Drive at about 5:30 a.m. and found the victim suffering multiple gunshot wounds, according to Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook. The man was taken to a local hospital.

“The one thing that’s been disturbing about this incident is we know we had a high-caliber weapon involved, which is always concerning, and we had a gunshot victim that was conscious but uncooperative – and has remained uncooperative since we initiated the investigation,” Holbrook said.

A high-caliber weapon is a rifle, the chief said.

Investigators are in the process of gathering surveillance footage, Holbrook said.

Police believe the shooting was an isolated incident and that the victim and the shooter are acquaintances.

“We don’t feel like this was a random shooting and we have a random gunman on the loose,” Holbrook said. “We believe it was not necessarily targeted, as in somebody was hunted down, but we feel that they met for a purpose. What that purpose is, we’re still trying to determine.”

The police department continues to investigate. Authorities are asking anyone with information about the shooting to call Crimestoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC.

This story was originally published May 18, 2016 at 7:56 AM with the headline "Man shot at Columbia motel off North Main Street."