“Here we are once again” — Officials discuss deadly shooting of three teenagers on Saddletrail Road

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — Three teenagers are dead and another wounded after a shooting on Saddletrail Road on Sunday.

Richland County’s Sheriff Leon Lott and other officials held a press conference this morning to discuss the deadly shooting.

“This is not normal. I mean the day that we start accepting this as being normal activity, then something is wrong with us,” says Lott.

Richland County Councilwoman Gretchen Barron of District 7 also spoke at Monday’s press conference.

“But I can’t help but to say here we are once again. The same community, we are addressing the same issue once again,” says Barron.

According to Sheriff Lott, deputies responded to a vacant home after reports of multiple gunshots being fired.

Deputies say when they arrived four teenagers between 14 and 17-years-old had been shot and were taken to a nearby hospital.

The 14-year-old victim was the only teenager to survive the incident and has since been released from the hospital.

Sheriff Lott described the scene, saying, “Very chaotic scene with so many victims, so many gunshots being fired. You just don’t know. You don’t know what we can do, but we won’t stop trying. And that’s the point I want to make today. Today is a sad day, yesterday is a sad day, but we’re continuing to work. We’re going to do our part for the enforcement part. We just need more help from our schools, from our elected officials, from our faith community. That village that’s standing behind me and that village that’s out there listening to this, we need to do more.”

According to Richland County Coroner Naida Rutherford, the victims have been identified as Jakobe Fanning, Caleb Wise, and Drevon Riley, students from Alcorn Middle School and Eau Claire High School.

“Someone that they saw on Friday, interacted with, was at lunch, those activities during the day, and then over a weekend they’re not there today. And that absence is felt, so we have to give our young people an opportunity to express their emotions to see if they’re indeed alright. And to let them know that sometimes it’s alright not to be alright,” says Dr. Craig Witherspoon, Superintendent for Richland School District One.

Linda Maxwell is a friend of the Fanning family. She says more must be done by lawmakers and community members to stop violent shootings.

“There’s got to be a way out. It can’t just be stand still. How many more deaths will it take before they actually change what is really going on and what they need to do about these guns?” says Maxwell.

Sheriff Lott says 17-year-old Eau Claire High School student Jahkeem Griffin has been arrested and charged with three counts of murder and attempted murder among other charges.

The sheriff’s department believes the shooting stemmed from an incident that occurred two years ago and is not believed to be gang related. Lott says they continue to search for other suspects in the shooting.

Richland One School Board Member, Pastor, and Dr. Aaron Bishop spoke at today’s press conference.

“This machine of terror has caused an era of terror long enough. And this machine is running reckless and abandoned through our community. This machine must get dismantled or it will dismantle us,” says Bishop.

A community meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 26th at 7 p.m. at the Crane Creek Gymnasium on Fairfield Road. Members of the community are invited to take part in the event.