Convicted murderer accused in Columbia mall shooting wanted to ‘die like a man’

A convicted murderer is accused of barricading himself inside of Columbia Place Mall late Sunday night and firing shots tried to prompt deputies to kill him, according to a police incident report.

James Parrish Jr., 36, is accused of shooting out windows at Sears, at 7201 Two Notch Road, at 8:30 p.m. Sunday, which triggered alarms, according to the report. The mall was closed at the time of the incident.

When Richland County deputies arrived, they located him in a service elevator in the store and had a special response team try to coax the suspect out.

He reportedly refused, “became loud and boisterous” and told officers to, “Give me a chance, I want to die like a man.”

The report stated he started threating that he would “shoot the cops.”

When the team entered the elevator around 1:45 a.m. Monday, the report stated he pointed a 9mm handgun toward the deputies.

Deputies were able to place him under arrest and stunned him when he became non-compliant.

He was treated at Palmetto Health Richland hospital for a laceration on his head and minor cuts. No other injuries were reported.

Parrish was charged with six counts of pointing and presenting a firearm, second-degree burglary, malicious injury to real property, being a felon in possession of a firearm and altering a serial number of a firearm.

In 2002, the Fayetteville, N.C., resident was convicted of second-degree murder, as well as kidnapping and attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon, according to N.C. Department of Corrections. He was imprisoned between 2005 and August of 2015.

Parrish’s parole ended in May 2016.

While in prison, he was also convicted of assault on an officer/state employee. He also has several previous drug convictions.

Sgt. Brittany Jackamonis with the Richland County Sheriff’s Department said a motive for this incident is still undetermined.

This story was originally published March 27, 2017 at 5:11 PM with the headline "Convicted murderer accused in Columbia mall shooting wanted to ‘die like a man’."