Columbia man fatally shoots wife before turning gun on himself, coroner says
A man and woman were found shot to death Sunday in what the Richland County Sheriff’s Department is calling a murder-suicide. They were a married couple, according to the Richland County Coroner’s Office.
The couple’s roommate at a residence in the 2500 block of Banner Hill Road found their bodies and called 911 at about 3:30 p.m., the sheriff’s department said. The residence is about a mile north of the intersection of Caughman and Trotter roads.
Responding deputies discovered both the man and woman’s bodies were together, and both had gunshot wounds to the upper body, according to a news release.
The woman, identified as 31-year-old Arianna Natasha Noble-Johnson had been shot by her husband, Joshua Seth Johnson, Richland County Coroner Gary Watts said.
Also 31, Joshua Johnson then turned the gun on himself and died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to Watts.
After performing autopsies on the couple, the coroner said the shootings happened sometime between 5 p.m. Friday and 11 p.m. Saturday.
The sheriff’s department said the shooting is an isolated incident and there is no threat to the community.
The deaths are being investigated by the sheriff’s department and coroner’s office. They are part of five shooting deaths on the weekend reported by the coroner.
This is a developing story, check back for updates.
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This story was originally published November 25, 2019 at 11:19 AM.
