Blythewood youth gunbattle sparked by ‘people that don’t like each other,’ Lott says

A gunbattle in Blythewood last month among young people was so ferocious and dangerous that Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott is calling it the “shootout at the O.K. Corral” after an 1881 Wild West gunfight between outlaws and lawmen.

But last month’s shootout in a crowd of some 200 youths didn’t involve lawmen and outlaws — the guns were fired by young people in their late teens and early 20s, Lott said at a press conference on Monday afternoon.

As bullets flew, young people stampeded away, falling down, and cars took off at high rates of speed, according to surveillance videos of the scene that Lott played to reporters.

“If you asked me what caused this shooting... it was people that don’t like each other,” Lott said. No gangs were involved, he said. “It’s only by the grace of God we didn’t have anybody killed.”

The gunbattle took place the night of April 5 around the Waffle House at 216 Blythewood Road after the prom at Blythewood High School. A young woman was struck by gunfire but survived. Another person was struck by a speeding car in its effort to get away. That person also survived. Bullets also damaged several nearby structures.

At least 70 shots were fired in a very short time, Lott said.

The young people were at the area around the Waffle House after the word was put out on social media that there was a “pop-up party” there, Lott said.

“You put it out and 15 minutes later you have 200 people show up,” Lott said. “They call them ‘pop-up parties’ for a reason because they pop up really quickly.”

So far, six people have been arrested in connection with the shootout, according to Lott.

One defendant arrested was the driver of the Maserati sports car that fled, striking and injuring a bystander, Lott said. The driver of that car, D’Marion Jacobs, 18, has been charged with hit-and-run resulting in injury, Lott said.

Lot said Monday’s press conference was an “update” in response to numerous queries he has received about the incident.

One comment on the Richland County Sheriff’s Department’s Facebook page was, “I live in Blythewood and it’s getting scary. I don’t go out much after dark. It was not like this 20 years ago.”

Last year, former Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said that firearm violence is a public health crisis in this country.