Did Columbia Police Chief Holbrook mislead the public following Columbiana mall shooting?
A few hours following a mall shootout during a busy Easter weekend in 2022, Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook held a news conference, saying three people had been detained “as people of interest.”
But that wasn’t true.
In fact, only one person — Jewayne Price — was in police custody after calling his aunt, who called 911, and submitting himself to questioning. Two other suspects, who were eventually charged — Marquise Robinson and Amari Smith — would remain at large for two days, according to testimony from Chauncey Duckett, the shooting’s lead investigator for the Columbia Police Department.
But at that press conference on April 16, 2022, before a slew of reporters, Holbrook said, “We have three people detained. We have not called them suspects. They are three people that we would classify as people of interest.”
At the time of Holbrook’s remarks, Price was the only person in custody, according to sworn testimony from Duckett during Price’s trial and Todd Rutherford, one of Price’s defense attorneys.
While there’s a distinction between being in “custody” and being “detained,” Holbrook “knew that police had only identified one suspect,” responsible for the shooting, according to Rutherford.
‘Saying things that were not true’
Rutherford, who was at Columbia police headquarters during Holbrook’s news conference, said he was dumbfounded by the chief’s remarks.
“It’s disappointing, to say the least, that a leader of a law enforcement agency is not being forthcoming with the public about what is going on when it involves an incident as major as this was,” Rutherford said. “Especially when my client is being challenged on his veracity, while at the same time the Columbia Police Department was saying things that were not true.”
Shortly after the shootout, Price admitted to his involvement in the shooting and told Duckett that he, Robinson and Smith had a vendetta stemming from another shooting that occurred in 2017, where Amon Rice, 17, a friend of Robinson and Smith, was gunned downed during a brawl near a church at a bus stop.
Price was one of four suspects charged in Rice’s death, but wasn’t prosecuted.
The State attempted on several occasions to ask Holbrook about his comments at the 2022 news conference — during and after the conclusion of criminal trials for Price and Robinson — but he refused to respond. CPD spokesperson Jennifer Timmons initially told The State, “It wouldn’t be appropriate to comment during an on-going trial.”
Following the trial’s conclusion, the department maintained that the information shared during Holbrooks’ initial conference was the best information available at the time.
Inaccurate statements by police ‘not uncommon’
University of South Carolina criminology professor Scott Mourtgos, who formerly served as a police officer for 20 years, including as a deputy chief of the Salt Lake City police department, said inaccurate statements by law enforcement officials during a news conference shortly after a mass shooting is not uncommon.
“You have to remember what this event is,” Mourtgos said. “We’re talking about a mass shooting event that is extremely chaotic. There’s a lot of pressure [on police] not only from the media but as well as the public for immediate information, and understandably so, as people may be worried about whether the shooting is an ongoing event.”
But in exchange for immediate information, Mourtgos said there’s always going to be “a trade-off” when such information comes before the conclusion of an investigation. Some immediate information, therefore, will likely turn out to be inaccurate, he said.
During the Price trial, Duckett testified that on the day of the shooting, police had only Price in custody, adding that Robinson and Smith were not arrested until two days later.
Mourtgos said information immediately following a mass shooting is likely to be diluted in light of the number of law enforcement agencies involved.
When multiple law enforcement agencies respond to a mass shooting, as was the case in 2022, “it’s important to remember that you’re not dealing with just one avenue of communication within one agency,” Mourtgos said. “The wrong information can be shared from an officer to a sergeant, all the way up to the chief, or communicated over the police radio.
“There’s needs to be some level of grace for the trade-off of speed and accuracy, when the agency executive is trying to get that initial information out to put the public and inform them about what did or didn’t happen.”
Rutherford, however, maintains Holbrook knew the number of people in custody on the day of the shooting and intentionally mislead the public.
Mourtgos, who studies policing, said while there isn’t a “bible” on how to conduct a press conference following a mass shooting, there are certain practices that agencies tend to follow. They include an explanation of the shooting, how police are responding to it, clarifying public safety concerns about ongoing threats and any information related to a reunification point, where victims of the shooting can reconnect with their loved ones.
Columbiana mall mass shooting
On Easter weekend in 2022, 14 people, ages 15 to 73, were injured in a shooting at the Columbiana Centre mall.
Price, Robinson and Smith were indicted on multiple charges, including attempted murder, aggravated assault and unlawful possession of a handgun.
In October, a jury found Price guilty of two counts of attempted murder and nine counts of aggravated assault of a high and aggravated nature. Two weeks later, Robinson was acquitted of attempted murder against Price, but convicted on nine counts of aggravated assault of a high and aggravated nature.
Smith, who was originally scheduled to go to trial, plead guilty to one charge of attempted murder and nine counts of assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature.
Judge Walton McLeod, who presided over the Price and Robinson trials, has not yet set a sentencing date for Price, Robinson or Smith.
This story was originally published December 16, 2024 at 5:00 AM.
