Deputies face heavy gunfire following multiple neighborhood shootings, 1 possible suspect dead
COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — Deputies faced gunfire and returned fire following multiple neighborhood shootings.
Sheriff Leon Lott with the Richland County Sheriff’s Department says just after midnight into Thursday morning, deputies were dispatched to the 200 block of Sagamore Road — following calls of a home and vehicles being struck by gunfire.
“This is what happened this morning….in Richland County. Not some soldiers out here in a war. This is your deputies out here in a war, and this is what they’re facing,” says Lott at a press conference with media Thursday afternoon.
He says the incidents left one 18-year-old possible suspect dead — with up to ten others still on the loose. That teenager has been identified by the Richland County Coroner’s Office as Columbia resident Qwa’Maurie Deaver.
A short time later, just before 2 a.m., deputies were called to the 400 block of Spring Oak Drive — again, for another residence that had been struck by gunfire.
“Everyone of those red circles, that’s a bullet. How people in those houses didn’t get killed — I don’t have a clue,” says Lott.
And just after 2 a-m, three deputies and their K-9 Officers were called to the backyard of a home at the 300 block of Legend Oaks. There, they encountered several individuals who began firing at them with high powered rifles and pistols.
Lott says the suspects used military style maneuvers to fire at deputies, adding, “They left where they originally shot at and they were trying to flank which means get around the deputies and come to a blind side.” Another suspect has been detained and is being questioned by the sheriff’s department.
Lott is asking anyone in the following areas to check their ring cameras and see if they have any helpful video from last night. Those areas are Fox Grove Circle, Royce Court, Summit Ridge, and Bombing Ridge. “And if you have anything on that ring door camera, we need to get it and help,” says Lott.
RCSD can be reached at 803-576-3000 or you can call CrimeStoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC. Callers can be anonymous.
