Columbia apartment complex where fatal shooting happened evacuated due to unsafe living conditions
A Columbia apartment complex where a young woman was shot to death Tuesday has now been completely evacuated, not because of the shooting but because of poor living conditions at the complex.
Residents of Colony Apartments on West Beltline Boulevard have been evacuated to area hotels as the Columbia-Richland Fire Department and City of Columbia Code Enforcement inspect the property, according to the department.
Residents at the apartment complex were reportedly without heat or water since Dec. 25, due to a broken water main. When police responded to a fatal shooting at the apartment Dec. 27, residents told police about the heat and water issues, according to reporting by WLTX.
Residents will be provided hotel rooms by the apartment’s owners through Thursday night, and perhaps longer.
The Colony Apartments are owned and managed by the Monroe Group, a Denver-based real estate company.
The apartments have been the site of numerous violent crimes over the years.
In June, a man was arrested for attempted murder after shooting two people at the apartment complex.
In 2021, several shootings occurred. In May 2021, one man was killed and another injured in a shooting. Months before that, in March 2021, a 3-year-old shot himself in the head while at one of the apartments, police previously said.
City officials including Mayor Daniel Rickenmann were on site Tuesday to help evacuate residents.
