2 more arrested and charged in Meadowlake Park mass shooting that injured 11, sheriff says
Two more people have been arrested in connection with a mass shooting at Meadowlake Park that injured nearly a dozen people at a post-prom party in April.
Sincere Boatwright, 21, and Mayar Kual, 19, were charged with 11 counts of attempted murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department said.
Information that investigators received from the community has been instrumental in helping to identify the people involved in the case, the sheriff’s department said.
The two men are the fourth and fifth people arrested in the case.
Christopher Pearson, 18, was also charged with 11 counts of attempted murder late last month for his alleged role in the shooting. The sheriff’s department said investigators could place Pearson at the park with a gun in his hand. At a press conference in May, Sheriff Leon Lott showed a video of Pearson brandishing a gun and calling people to return to Meadowlake Park with guns, which Lott said was posted shortly after the shooting. A search of Pearson’s home turned up eight guns. None have been connected to the ballistics recovered at the scene of the shooting, Lott said in May, but investigators are still testing the weapons.
Pearson was recently denied bond, according to Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center records.
Two teenagers, who names have not been released by law enforcement, were also charged in case. The pair were arrested in unrelated incidents, the sheriff’s department said, but officers recovered an assault rifle and multiple pistols, including one stolen gun. Ballistics connected the guns with April’s mass shooting, according to the sheriff’s department. Lott indicated at a press conference last month that investigators are working to have the teens tried as adults.
In the early hours of April 29, gunfire broke out at what was apparently a post-prom party at Meadowlake Park off of Wilson Boulevard in northwest Columbia. Nine people were struck by bullets and two were injured by the panicked stampede that followed. One girl was hit and run over by a car and another person suffered a hand injury.
The victims’ ages ranged from 16 to 20 years old, according to the sheriff’s department, but attendees came from all over the Midlands and as far away as Great Falls. Three of the students shot were from W.J. Keenan High School, Richland District One spokesperson Karen York told the The State, and one of the injured students attended C.A. Johnson High School.
The sheriff’s department said the investigation of the mass shooting isn’t over and more arrests are expected.
“We’re not done. This is still very much an active investigation,” Lott said in a news release. “If you were there that night and you fired a gun, we will find you.”
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the Richland County Sheriff’s Department or submit a tip through Crime Stoppers.
This story was originally published June 10, 2023 at 9:42 AM.
