Court documents: Columbia shootings might be related

Investigators say a witness told them a shooting Sunday in north Columbia could be in retaliation for a September killing, court documents show.

Police arrested Daniel D. Ayers, 17, and Le’Andre J. Mitchell, 18, after the shooting on Silver Mill Drive that resulted in no injuries. It’s the latest in a string of shootings, several of them fatal, in central and north Columbia over the past month.

According to a probable cause statement filed in Ayers’ case, a victim said Ayers was standing on her porch with another man before the shooting Sunday. Ayers had a gun and asked about the whereabouts of another person, identified only by the initials G.T., police wrote in the statement.

Ayers then said G.T. had disrespected someone nicknamed “9,” who had recently died, according to investigators.

A webpage memorializing E’Quan Spain, who was killed in a Sept. 14 shooting in central Columbia, says he was known by the nicknames “Numba 9” and “9Problems,” among others including the digit.

Ayers was also charged in August with attacking a student at Battle High School.

The statement did not elaborate on the connection between Ayers and Spain.

Police say Spain was killed when he was accidentally hit by gunfire as he and two others shot from the vehicle they were in toward another vehicle near Park Avenue and Fifth Street. Michael Leon Anderson, 28, is charged with murder for allegedly shooting Spain.

Anderson appeared in court Tuesday and a judge scheduled a hearing to set his bond for 1:30 p.m. Oct. 15.

Another man, Aaron Harris, is accused of driving the vehicle and remains at large. Harris is charged with second-degree murder and unlawful use of a weapon.

Check back and watch ABC 17 News at 5 and 6 for more on this developing story.

KMIZ