Fourteen people were injured at a South Carolina mall shooting on Easter Sunday, sending many of the mall’s patrons running for their lives.
Columbia Police Chief W.H. “Skip” Holbrook said that 22-year-old Jewayne M. Price was being held in connection with the Saturday shooting along with two other men who were initially detained as persons of interest.
The charges against Price include unlawful possession of a pistol and possible additional charges, according to a police statement. According to a tweet from the Lexington County Sheriff’s Office, he will be housed at the Lexington County Detention Center. The two other men who were initially detained by police have been freed.
An estimated 15-to-73-year-old person was among the 14 people injured in Saturday’s shooting at Columbiana Centre Mall. Five people were treated for “other injuries” such as broken bones, lacerations, and a head injury while trying to flee the scene, in addition to the nine people who were shot.
At the end of Saturday night, there was still only one patient in the hospital, a 73-year-old woman.
Early ballistic evidence points to at least two different firearms being used by two suspects, according to officials. Police believe three people displayed their guns inside the mall and believe they were fired by two of those people. According to authorities, at least one firearm was seized.
The shooting was not random, police said, but was “an isolated incident between the suspects and likely stemmed from an ongoing conflict.”
There are no “firearms or illegal weapons” allowed in the Columbiana Centre Mall, according to their code of conduct. Private or public employers in South Carolina can still prohibit people from openly carrying concealed firearms on their property, according to the state’s new law that went into effect in August.
Former South Carolina Democratic Party Chair and current DNC Chair Jaime Harrison tweeted his condolence to those who had been hurt in this weekend’s shootings.
“These tragedies get closer and closer to home,” Harrison wrote. “I’m sure some Columbia families were just out shopping for Easter weekend & now their lives have been forever changed. The nation must find the courage, strength, & leadership to stop #GunViolence .”