Chief: Incident stems from The Library despite increased patrols
A man fired on a police officer and another person in Five Points Saturday, the second shooting in the span of two weekends, leaving Columbia Police Chief Randy Scott “very, very, very discouraged.”
Shiquan Tyon Cwiklinski, 18, was arrested in connection with the shooting, which occurred on the 2000 block of Greene Street around 2 a.m. Saturday. He is charged with two counts of attempted murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a violent crime.
No one was injured, and no property was damaged by the gunshots.
Scott said the shooting stemmed from an incident inside The Library, a Harden Street bar that was connected with a pair of fights earlier this month.
On the morning of Feb. 17, a brawl of 15 to 20 men broke out outside the bar that led to between eight and 10 gunshots being fired from a large caliber pistol. On Feb. 16, a man was kicked in the face at the bar and had a bottle thrown at his head.
The trio of incidents has Scott concerned that The Library is hurting Five Points clubs’ reputations by appealing to a younger crowd, he said.
To remain open, he said the bar would need to improve security, adding that it has been charged with overcrowding before, including last October.
“They’re going to have to get security,” Scott said. “They’re going to have to clean up their act.”
As a result of the incidents earlier this month, Columbia police increased its patrols in the area to about 20 officers last weekend. According to police spokeswoman Jennifer Timmons, a force of about 10 is more typical.
That increased force comes at a steep cost to the city, Scott said. The officers are all off-duty so that police presence elsewhere in the city isn’t reduced, so they’re being paid overtime.
“People are criticizing me for putting extra patrols in Five Points and not putting extra patrols in other areas, but you cannot put a price tag on a person’s injury, life or trauma,” Scott said.
This week, Scott said he planned to again send about 20 officers to Five Points, but they might not all be uniformed like last weekend.
As many as half could be going through the crowds dressed in plainclothes, he said.
Scott said he thinks the increased police presence helped mitigate the damage of the Saturday morning shooting and prevented more shots from being fired.
Investigators were able to use witness interviews and surveillance footage to make an arrest that night. They tracked the suspect down at the Walmart on Forest Drive.
Cwiklinski is being held at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center on a $325,000 bond, according to the jail website.
According to a State Law Enforcement Division records check, Cwiklinski was arrested in February 2012 on two attempted murder charges.
In 2011, he was arrested three times on charges of disorderly conduct, second-degree burglary and possession of a controlled substance, according to the records.