12 people were injured after a shooting Saturday at the Columbiana Centre mall in Columbia, South Carolina. 10 of those wounded were hit by gunfire, while two were trampled in the crowd as people tried to escape. The police have reported no fatalities at this time. The youngest victim is 15-years-old and the oldest is 73.
Three people have been detained in the ongoing investigation. Police do not believe this is a random shooting and that those involved knew each other.
Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook said authorities believe at least one of the detainees fired a weapon, although they've not yet been called suspects.
Victims of the attack have been taken to three separate medical facilities: Prisma Health Parkridge, Prisma Health Richland, and Lexington Medical Center.
At 2:00 pm police received reports of "multiple" gunshots at the Columbiana Centre mall. Several eyewitnesses described hearing the multiple rounds being fired before the crowds inside the mall began to rush for the exits. In the rush that ensued, two victims were injured by the stampede of people.
"I want to give you an overview of where we're at," Holbrook told reporters in a video interview. "We started receiving a series of emergency calls after that. This prompted an all-response from law enforcement. We are asking that the public stay out of the area. A lot of the roads have been closed down." Holbrook explained that law enforcement has not yet cleared the area. "We still have law-enforcement teams inside the mall," he said. "It's a large mall. We're clearing the stores one at a time. We did an initial sweep for people that were injured and got them transported. We have teams now methodically going through the mall."
Holdbrook stressed that the information collected was preliminary. State police are working alongside the FBI in order to better understand the situation at hand.
Holdbrook's police department put out a statement on Twitter, saying they were grieved by the day's events. "Today's isolated, senseless act of violence is extremely upsetting and our thoughts are with everyone impacted," the Columbia Police's social media statement read. "We are grateful for the quick response and continued support of our security team and our partners in law enforcement."
Statement from @ColumbianaCtr: “Today’s isolated, senseless act of violence is extremely upsetting and our thoughts are with everyone impacted. We are grateful for the quick response and continued support of our security team and our partners in law enforcement.”
— Columbia Police Dept (@ColumbiaPDSC) April 16, 2022
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