Gunmen open fire on Columbia house, killing 7-year-old, injuring his sister
The Columbia police chief and mayor made an emotional appeal to the public for help finding shooters who opened fire on a house Wednesday night, killing a 7-year-old boy and injuring his sister.
“We know as we speak right now that people know who did this and why it occurred,” Chief Skip Holbrook said at a Thursday news conference outside the Columbia Police Department headquarters. “We know they know where the weapons are.”
A boy and his 13-year-old sister was shot at at home on Tarragon Drive, police said. That’s near the junction of Farrow Road and S.C. 277 in the Capital Heights neighborhood.
Richland County Coroner Gary Watts identified the 7-year-old victim as Knowledge Sims. He was shot in the upper body, Watts said.
The 13-year-old was shot in the arm, Holbrook said. She underwent surgery and is in stable condition at Prisma Health Richland.
The shooting happened at 109 Tarragon Drive about 11:30 p.m., according to Holbrook.
Columbia police officers were alerted to the shots by gun shot detectors; a 911 call came in about a minute later.
Police believe that two gunmen likely drove to the home, got out of their vehicle and opened fire on the house. Inside the home were seven children and two adults, the mother of the victims and their grandmother, Holbrook said. Investigators found dozens of rounds outside the house.
“I can only imagine the pain this family is going through now,” Mayor Steve Benjamin said at the news conference.
Both he and Holbrook called the shooting an act of cowardice.
Benjamin said he was at the news conference to make a plea for people of the Midlands to “step up right now and give this child and this family justice.”
Police don’t yet know a motive for the shooting but are conducting interviews, following all leads and have “a number of theories,” Holbrook said.
The house that was targeted was not a home that’s been investigated by police before, and the neighborhood, Capital Heights, is not one that police have a history with, according to Holbrook.
Police and other authorities have focused violence prevention efforts in north Columbia, where the shooting occurred. North Columbia’s roughly located in the community’s surrounding S.C. 277 and North Main Street. North Columbia is affected by more gun violence than other areas of Columbia and Richland County, according to police.
Neighborhood associations in north Columbia, including the association of Booker Washington Heights, and organizations like the North Columbia Youth Empowerment Initiative are making efforts to decrease violence and define north Columbia as an area headed toward positive change.
“When is enough enough?” Holbrook said at the conference. “If a murder of a seven year old … doesn’t tear at your heart, I don’t know what will.”
Asked what can be done to prevent shootings, Holbrook said that Columbia has too many guns on the streets and no one is accountable for the firearms being there.
Anyone with information about Wednesday night’s shooting is asked to call Columbia Police Department or report it to CrimeStoppers at 888-CRIME-SC or submit an online tip or call the ATF Tip Line at (888)283-8477. Calls to the ATF tip line that lead to arrests can offer up to $25,000, Holbrook said.
This story was originally published April 30, 2020 at 4:52 PM.