Shopping center reopened as police detain man seen with gun

Police reopened businesses in south Columbia Wednesday night after a call for a suspicious person with a gun.

Columbia police officers investigated on Green Meadows Way, closing the lots of nearby restaurants. Employees inside Murry’s and The Upper Crust, along with diners in the former, were kept inside while police scoured the scene.

Public Information Officer Bryana Larimer told ABC 17 News the department’s Crisis Negotiation Team worked to get a man outside his nearby apartment. People saw the man holding a gun to his head in the parking lot, Larimer said, and then barricaded himself within his apartment. Police detained him shortly before 9 p.m.

A man who claimed to be the father of the man involved in the incident told ABC 17 News it was a BB gun.

Police say the investigation is ongoing.

Stay tuned for more details on the situation in south Columbia.