Gunman pleads guilty in Vista shooting that injured 8, including college football fan

One of two gunmen in the 2017 shooting that injured eight people outside a nightclub in Columbia’s Vista district pleaded guilty on Tuesday, according to the Fifth Circuit Solicitor’s Office.

Jenorris Lartman pleaded guilty Tuesday on charges from the September 2017, the solicitor’s office said.

Additional details were not immediately available, but Lartman was sentenced to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to attempted murder charges, reports WACH Fox.

Lartman had been charged with seven counts of attempted murder and two weapon charges in connection with the shootout that happened in the early hours of Sept. 16, 2017, as bars in the district were closing. He faced up to 30 years in prison on each of the attempted murder charges.

Eight people, including Lartman, were injured in the gunfight, which investigators said stemmed from a feud between two rival groups in the local music industry. A woman from Kentucky, who was in town for the weekend’s football game between the University of South Carolina and the University of Kentucky, was shot in the face and was left with permanent injuries.

“I came to support a friend. I didn’t come up there looking for trouble,” Lartman said in court Monday, according to WLTX. “Trouble wasn’t me that night. I never initiated any of this.”

John Earl Bates Jr., who was charged with seven counts of attempted murder in connection with the shooting, had been charged in previous shootings, The State learned shortly after the 2017 Vista shooting. He was in court less than 24 hours before gunshots rattled the Vista district, during which a judge decided against revoking his probation on a prior conviction.

Bates, a musician, had performed at the Empire Supper Club just before the shooting happened. Columbia police Chief Skip Holbrook declared the club a public nuisance after the shooting and shut it down.

Two other men were charged in connection with the shooting. Maleik Houseal pleaded guilty in November to a federal gun charge and faces up to 10 years in prison. State charges of unlawful carrying of a pistol and possession of a firearm by a person convicted of a violent crime remain pending against Houseal, according to Richland County court records.

A charge against Jarvis Tucker of accessory after the fact remains pending, court records show.

This story was originally published April 2, 2019 at 2:20 PM.