Shots fired, shots heard calls down year to year for north Columbia
As of Tuesday night, no arrests have been made in two shootings that happened an hour apart of each other in north Columbia Monday.
The first shooting happened at Edenton Drive; the second on Mexico Gravel Road.
ABC 17 News spoke with one resident who lives at the intersection of Mexico Gravel Road and East Henley Drive who said he wasn’t shocked to see a shooting happen so close to his driveway.
“I mean it’s something that happened already,” Mike Mattingly said. “We’ve seen it before; it’s nothing new.”
Mattingly told ABC 17 News he has lived on Mexico Gravel Road for 10 years and said he has seen his fair share of crime scenes.
“When I first got here, I don’t remember a lot of things happening, but over time I mean, this isn’t the first shooting that’s happened on this street,” Mattingly said.
According to police dispatch records, there were 231 calls for service on Mexico Gravel Road in the past year; 79 since the beginning of 2017.
According to data Columbia police gave ABC 17 News that measured the number of shots fired/shorts heard calls between March 1, 2016 until February 28, 2017, 17 were reported. For the same measurement, 37 were reported from March 2015 through February 2016; and 29 between March 2014 and February 2015.
While it’s unclear why the number could have decreased, the community outreach unit going into the central, east, and north neighborhoods could play a factor. It’s something that Councilman Michael Trapp said makes him proud.
One north neighborhood resident told ABC 17 News she has seen a positive impact since the community outreach unit started.
“By having the community outreach unit it makes them (kids) less aggressive,” Monique Fugate said. “My kids actually want to be a police officer. They used to be scared at one point.”
Office Scott Lenger who works in the north Columbia community outreach unit, told ABC 17 News he has seen a change in residents being more comfortable with police.
“At one point, some people wanted nothing to do with the police,” Lenger said. “Now they know me by name. I know them by name. We have that relationship.”
Lenger said the unit tries to get into those neighborhood before a crime happens.
