One person injured in Friday shooting before second shooting overnight

The Columbia Police department is searching for multiple suspects in two shootings that happened within hours of each other and injured one person.

The first shooting happened at 7:16 p.m. Friday in Downtown Optimist Park off of Providence Road on Forest Avenue.

Police said in a release Saturday they found 29 shell casings at the scene with no sign of injuries at the time. Witnesses told police two black men entered the park from the southeast part of the alleyway and began shooting at people sitting underneath the park’s pavilion.

Around 9 p.m. Friday, a man with a non-life threatening gunshot wound arrived at the hospital. Police said he was a victim from the incident at Downtown Optimist Park.

Hours later at 4:24 a.m., officers arrived at the 5300 block of Currituck Drive in north Columbia for a shots fired call.

A witness at the scene told police a black male wearing a loose fitting shirt fired several rounds at a home nearby. Officers found seven shell casings on scene. Police said a witness saw the suspect running north on Currituck Drive from the area. No injuries were reported, but the gunfire damaged the home.

Police have no information if the two incidents are related.