Few details available in incident, pending investigation
USC police are investigating an incident at Columbia Hall last week, but they’ve divulged few details about what happened.
According to an incident report, released Friday, officers twice received reports of fireworks near the Barnwell Street residence hall over the course of last Monday night and Tuesday morning.
They first responded to a call around 11 p.m. last Monday, but found no evidence of anything amiss, according to the report.
Then, at 12:54 a.m., they came back after USC and Columbia police both received reports that residents heard “multiple booms” on the northeast corner of the building, which faces the building’s parking lot near Pendleton Street.
Officers talked to the resident mentor on duty and the front desk security guard and found “signs of criminal activity,” the report said.
Capt. Eric Grabski, a spokesman for the USC Division of Law Enforcement and Safety, wouldn’t elaborate on what those signs were or how many suspects were involved when contacted Friday, citing the ongoing investigation.
The department is building a case “to make sure we get a successful prosecution,” Grabski said, “if that’s where this goes.”
“I can say the community’s not in any danger,” Grabski said.