A day after 11 people, most of them teenagers, were hurt in a shooting and stampede, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott had some harsh words for the gunmen — and bond court judges.
“You’re nothing but a coward to do something like that,” Lott said about the shooters at a Sunday news conference.
At about 1:20 a.m. Saturday, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department said it got a call about a “large gathering of juveniles” at Meadowlake Park, off Wilson Boulevard in Columbia. The gathering, which happened after several high school proms, was described as a flash party by Lott.
The party turned into chaos and broke apart when multiple shooters sneaked up on the partygoers and opened fire into a crowd, according to Lott.
“Your prom or even going to a party is something you want to remember, and remember it in a good way,” Lott said. “I guarantee you all of those that were there Saturday morning (are) going to remember this, and not in a good way.”
The victims
Of the 11 people injured, 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 said.
Some victims are in serious condition, while others are scheduled to have surgery Sunday, according to Lott. The only silver lining is that medical officials have told the sheriff that none of the injuries are considered life threatening, Lott said.
The victims ranged in age from 16 to 20 years old. Four of the victims were Richland 1 students, according to district Superintendent Craig Witherspoon.
“At this point we think they’re all going to survive. … But it’s not not because those who were doing the shooting didn’t try,” Lott said. “Many, many more (victims that don’t) have a visible wound but have psychological wounds, mental wounds, stuff that — they’re going to have to live with the rest of their lives. The terror that they experienced was something that they will never forget.”
The sheriff said listening to an audio recording of the shooting was scary. He compared it to something you would expect to hear in a war zone in Iraq, Afghanistan or Ukraine, as he said more than 50 rounds were fired by fully-automatic weapons.
Arrests made
Two teenagers were arrested in the hours after the shooting.
Miquise Fulwiley, 19, and Ty’quan Kelly, 18, were taken into custody after leading deputies on a chase from the park.
Responding deputies saw a car drive away from the park at a high speed with no lights on, Lott said. The deputies began a pursuit, and while the driver ignored the siren and blue lights, deputies saw guns thrown out of the car, according to the sheriff.
One gun has been recovered so far, Lott said. Deputies are working to determine if the gun was used in the shooting, a process that could take some time, according to Lott.
At this point, 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.
Lott wouldn’t say how many shooters opened fire at the party, but said the investigation is ongoing, making it likely that more arrests possible.
“I’m speaking to you right now, if you were involved in that shooting, you’re going to get caught,” Lott said. “If you think wearing a mask, and sneaking around a building and shooting into a crowd makes you a man, that’s nothing but a coward. You’re nothing but a coward to do something like that, shoot girls in the back. Shooting females in the back, shooting people just in a crowd, does that make you somebody, does that give you a reputation within your group of people that you run with. No, all it does is make you a coward.”
“Catch and release”
Lott was clearly upset that both Fulwiley and Kelly are no longer being held at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center, after being released on bond.
It was before 5 a.m. when both were booked into the Richland County jail, and Lott said both were freed by Saturday night.
Fulwiley was released on a personal recognizance bond, which Lott described as the teen simply saying to the judge “ ‘I’m going to be a good boy and I’m going to show up for court when I’m supposed to.’ ”
The sheriff was even more disturbed about Kelly, who was released after bond was set at $10,000. Before Saturday, Kelly had been arrested twice since March 1 on weapons charges, and was released after bond was set at $2,500 and then $50,000 after those arrests, including the most recent on April 16, according to Lott.
“This is the third time that he has been caught with a gun, and he continuously gets out,” Lott said.
Lott then turned his ire toward the bond system.
“It’s terrible that I have to stand here and talk constantly about catch and release, catch and release. That’s what we’ve already seen in this case. We haven’t even caught all the people involved in it yet, and we’re seeing those that we’ve already caught that are being released,” Lott said. “We’re going to catch (the shooters) and we’re going to do what we’re supposed to do. Hopefully, the criminal justice system will do what they’re supposed to do also.”
Why did it happen?
As for a motive for the shooting, there is none, according to the sheriff.
“That’s what’s hard to explain, because everybody wants to know what caused this to happen,” Lott said. “These people who do these things, they don’t need any cause. They just show up with guns and they start shooting.”
It was a case of people showing up without being directly invited to the flash party, according to the sheriff.
This isn’t the first time that violence has been reported at a flash party, Lott said. Part of that is because the party organizers share news about the event on social media, and more than their friends see the details.
“We’re talking about 100, 200 kids showing up at one place. Not just kids there to hang out with their friends. Any and everybody shows up. When you put it out on social media everybody sees it, so everybody shows up,” Lott said. “The hoodlums see it too, the bad guys see it and show up and do what they did the other night.”
Lott said the victims weren’t targeted for any specific reason other than they were in attendance at the flash party that involved students from multiple high schools in the Midlands and as far as Great Falls.
“That’s what makes this scary about these people with these guns,” Lott said.
The sheriff said the gun violence in the area did not stop with the early-morning shooting. There were two more shootings in Columbia and another two in Richland County Saturday where four people total were injured, according to the sheriff. Further details on those shootings was not available.