Lott: 4 gang members charged in shooting death of rival

The recent arrest of four known gang members charged in the drive-by shooting death of a rival gang member is a prime example of what joining a gang will lead to, according to Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott.

“We have talked about gangs, and we have always said the same thing,” Lott said. “Gangs are going to end you up in one of two places: You’re going to end up in the cemetery or you are going to end up in prison. Here we got one individual going to the cemetery, and we got four individuals going to prison.”

Lott said the 23-year-old Xavier Brannon, 19-year-old Alvin Anderson, 21-year-old Tyshon Anderson and 19-year-old Varn Smith have all been charged with murder in connection with the shooting death of 17-year-old James Edward Nathan Jr.

Nathan’s death is the culmination of several incidents in which the two gangs were targeting each other, according to Lott. On Feb. 17, Lott said, several gang members were standing outside of a residence in the Gonzales Gardens public housing complex when rival gang members approached them and fired several shots into the crowd. Brannon was shot in the hip during the shooting.

Lott said Columbia police responded to the shooting but made no arrests.

On Feb. 22, a female from Gonzales Gardens was having a party at the Affordable Suites Deluxe-Columbia apartment complex in which several gang members were in attendance. At 1 a.m., a member of a rival gang showed up and fired several shots, but no one was injured.

Later that day, Brannon, both Andersons and Smith drove to the Starlite subdivision off Bluff Road to do a drive-by shooting in retaliation for the early-morning shooting. They fired several shots at individuals near Windy and LaClair drives. When deputies arrived, they learned that Nathan suffered from gunshot wounds to the upper body and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Lott said with the community’s assistance and the use of the Midlands Gang Task Force – a specialized team comprised of Richland County sheriff’s deputies and Columbia police officers – authorities were able to locate the red truck witnesses said they saw during the shooting.

Lott said the motivation behind the shooting “pure retaliation.”

Lott and Columbia Chief Skip Holbrook both commended the work of officers.

“Anything gang related, our gang unit works seamlessly together,” Holbrook said. “I think we have seen numerous occasions in the last year how the gang unit has been clearing violent crimes for the sheriff’s department and the police department.”

This story was originally published March 25, 2015 at 3:22 PM.