The Columbia Police Department released photos of four persons of interest who may be related to the incident in Five Points Friday night that resulted in a man being shot in the leg.
Investigators a looking for two men and two women who may have information related to the incident, according to a CPD press release.
According to CPD, the incident began with two men who were arguing at 818 Harden St. An acquaintance of the victim pulled him away from the fight, and the two ran across a parking lot to their car and tried to leave the scene.
The shooter allegedly fired several shots as the two drove away. The driver took the victim to the hospital after he was shot in the leg. According to CPD, medical staff said the injuries did not appear to be life-threatening.
USC President Harris Pastides urged the community to “take back Five Points” before criminal activities become synonymous with the area.
“The facts that the gunshots fired did not cause serious injury, and that no USC students were involved, do not make the consequences any less real to our campus or to our neighbors,” Pastides said in a statement issued Saturday night.
Pastides called for community action once again, just as he did after a stray bullet struck and paralyzed first-year business student Martha Childress in Five Points last fall.
“Now is the time to implement effect change for a safer Five Points,” Pastides said in the statement. “What more will it take to pick up the pace of action?”
In order to break the string of violent crimes Five Points has seen over the last few years, Pastides made several suggestions to increase the area’s safety. The suggestions including upping Columbia Police Department and Richland County Sheriff’s Department police presence in Five Points Thursday through Sunday, Columbia City Council voting to close bars and restaurants at 2 a.m. and making Five Points better lit and monitored, as well as more pedestrian friendly.
“Combating violence is a community problem that requires a community solution,” the statement read. “As friends and neighbors, let’s pick up the pace to ensure that Five Points is safe for everyone.”