Teenager arrested in Columbia shooting

A teenager was arrested Wednesday after police heard gunshots being fired in northeast Columbia.

Columbia Police Department spokesman Jeff Pitts said officers arrested Tyjuan J. Robinson, 18, on suspicion of firing a gun at another person. Prosecutors charged Robinson with first-degree assault, felony drug possession, unlawful use of a weapon and armed criminal action.

The incident drew a large police response after officers who were on Rice Road for a traffic stop heard someone fire a gun nearby. Two other people in addition to Robinson were arrested in connection with the shooting. Police shut down part of Rice Road temporarily during the investigation.

According to the probable cause statement filed in Robinson’s case, a witness told an officer Robinson was in a car with a woman near Ballenger Liquor and was wearing a black ski mask before the shooting Wednesday.

The same witness said he saw the car at Rice Road and Boyd Lane before Robinson began shooting at him.

Pitts said officers were in the area when they heard several shots. They found several shell casings at the intersection and eventually located the car with three men inside, he said.

Officers found marijuana in the car and asked Robinson to get out, the statement said, and found the gun on the floor of the car.

The statement said Robinson and his companions were at Ballenger Liquor when they saw a man, woman and child in the parking lot. Robinson and the two other men spoke to the group, according to the statement.

Later, Robinson shot at the group outside and then fled, the statement said.

Police also found cocaine in Robinson’s pocket, according to the statement. Robinson was in the Boone County Jail on Thursday on a $50,000 cash-only bond. He did not have an attorney listed in online court records.

*Editor’s note: this article has been modified to remove a reference that Robinson was homeless.