Another teen arrested in Meadowlake Park mass shooting, sheriff says

Another teenager has been charged in last month’s shooting at Meadowlake Park that injured 11 people, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott announced Friday afternoon.

Christopher Pearson, 18, has been charged with 11 counts of attempted murder for his alleged role in the April 29 shooting at a post-prom party, Lott announced at a press conference Friday. The sheriff said investigators can place Pearson, who does not have a prior criminal record, at the park with a gun in his hand exactly three weeks ago.

Lott played a video at the news conference that showed Pearson issuing a brazen challenge , brandishing a gun and calling people to return to Meadowlake Park with guns.

“Meet me at Meadowlake, 11’oclock. ARPs, Glocks, shotguns, rocket launchers, grenade launchers. All that s--t, let’s do it,” Pearson can be seen saying directly to the camera as he recorded himself shirtless, with a shotgun propped above one shoulder. The video was recorded shortly after the shooting, Lott said.

A search of Pearson’s home following the arrest turned up eight guns, including the one seen in the video, Lott said. So far none have been connected to the extensive ballistics recovered at the scene, but Lott said that his investigators were still testing the weapons.

“That’s what we’re fighting. That’s the attitudes we got to change,” Lott said. “If they don’t change the attitudes themselves then we’re going to put them in jail and that’s where we’re going to ask them to stay until they go to court.”

Pearson’s arrest brings the total arrests following the mass shooting at Meadowlake Park up to five.

“This investigation has not slowed down one bit,” Lott said.

On April 29 at about 1:20 a.m., 11 people, most of them teenagers, were hurt in the shooting and subsequent stampede at Meadowlake Park.

Of the victims, nine were shot, according to the sheriff’s department. One unidentified female at the scene suffered lower body injuries after she was run over by a car, and another victim’s hand was badly cut, the sheriff’s department said.

The crowd, mostly teenagers and young adults, gathered in the north Columbia park for a spontaneous after-prom party that drew attendees from schools around Richland County and as far away as Great Falls.

Two teens originally arrested in for a series of unrelated shootings were charged on May 3 with participating in the Meadowlake Park shooting. Investigators matched ballistics from guns taken during the previous arrests to those used during the Meadowlake Park shooting.

Two other teenagers, 19-year-old Miquise Fulwiley and 18-year-old Ty’quan Kelly, were also arrested the night of the shooting, but so far neither has been charged with participating in the shooting itself. Fulwiley and Kelly both have been charged with simple possession of marijuana and unlawful carrying of a pistol. Fulwiley also was charged with failure to stop for blue lights.

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This story was originally published May 19, 2023 at 4:24 PM.

Ted Clifford

The State

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Ted Clifford is the statewide accountability reporter at The State Newspaper. Formerly the crime and courts reporter, he has covered the Murdaugh saga, state and federal court, as well as criminal justice and public safety in the Midlands and across South Carolina. He is the recipient of the 2023 award for best beat reporting by the South Carolina Press Association.