Columbia man faces three felony charges for shootings

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Prosecutors charged a Columbia man Monday in connection with two shootings that happened weeks apart.

Joshua A. Abrams, 23, was charged with first-degree assault, armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon in an April shooting in Downtown Columbia and another shooting last week in north Columbia. He was arrested over the weekend and remained in the Boone County Jail on Monday without bond.

Abrams is accused of being one of multiple shooters downtown early on the morning of April 13, according to a probable cause statement. One of the shooters fired at a Columbia Police Department officer's car, the statement says.

Two people were hit and went to University Hospital in a private vehicle, where police interviewed one of them. The other victim could not speak, the statement says.

The victim who spoke to police said he was leaving a bar when he was shot by someone he didn't recognize, the statement says.

The shooters ran down an alley, climbed a fence and got into an SUV.

Abrams is also suspected in a Thursday morning shooting on Clark Lane. Officers found shell casings and bullet holes in the ground in the area where shots were heard, the statement says.

Police allege a victim later told police that her friend's boyfriend got drunk at a restaurant, then fired off shots outside a residence after an argument. Another witness identified the suspect as Abrams.

Abrams and one of the witnesses sped off after shots were fired and eventually crashed into Hominy Branch creek, the statement says. Police found a 9 mm handgun with ammunition in the wrecked SUV.

Security footage from the area where shots were fired helped identify Abrams, the statement says.