Investigation continues after man shot Wednesday night

Columbia police continue to search for those responsible for shooting a man Wednesday night at an apartment complex.

The shooting at Columbia Square Apartments on Wednesday night marked at least the third instance of gun violence this week. Police said a man suffered what appeared to be non-life-threatening gunshot wounds and found several vehicles hit by bullets.

Lt. Matt Stephens told ABC 17 News that officers received varying levels of cooperation from people at the scene. Detectives were piecing together the information in hopes of making an arrest. While police did detain some people at the scene, Stephens said all were released a short time later after questioning.

Police have made one arrest in the shootings this week. Dewayne Grays was charged with assault and armed criminal action following a botched drug deal at a Stadium Boulevard shopping center.

A lack of witness help has long been blamed as a roadblock to solving crimes in Columbia. Glenn Cobbins, an outreach specialist for the city who has been working on repairing and building relationships between city government and specific areas of town, said he’s seen the trust between the community and police improve in the last several years. The shootings this week surprised him, and he hopes the two sides would continue to work together. Trust, he said, is based on a mutual respect for the work each side provides.

“We need to hold their feet to the fire, and they need to hold our feet to the fire as a community,” Cobbins said.

In the Stadium Boulevard shooting, a Crime Stoppers tip helped police make a case against Grays. Crime Stoppers board President Terry Robb said the hotline, 573-875-TIPS, has seen a slight increase in calls this summer. Robb said the increase in crime during the summer months could contribute to that. People with knowledge of a crime can provide an anonymous tip to the group, which is then passed along to the police department. Robb said the tipster isn’t expected to testify in court and can remain removed from the case even if they call.

“We know that there’s people out there that know something,” Robb said. “People have seen things, they know something. Nobody knows but them and us, as far as what the tip was. It’s totally anonymous.”