Police: Two in custody after shots are fired in neighborhood south of Interstate 70
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Two people are in custody after shots were fired in a neighborhood just south of Interstate 70 on Thursday afternoon, according to a Columbia Police Department spokeswoman.
No injuries or property damage was reported.
CPD spokeswoman Jenny Hopper said officers responded to the area near Spencer Avenue and Patsy Lane around 2:20 p.m. Hopper said two people were in custody, but could not provide the names, genders, ages or pending charges of those individuals.
A woman in the area told ABC 17 News that her son was home at the time when shots were fired and recalled seeing a red truck and red vehicle shooting at each other.
Taia Brown and Makayla Penny work at Lizzi & Rocco's Natural Pet Market and said the incident occurred just outside of the business. Brown and Penny said they were working a normal shift, when customers began frantically coming into the store, asking why the road nearby was blocked off.
Penny said she remembers hearing a "pop," but loud music playing in the store kept employees from realizing what the noise was. It wasn't until the two walked outside that they realized what was happening.
"For it to happen right across where we work is crazy, and with no warning," Brown said. "It's kind of scary like you know, we walk out to put the trash up and it was literally right there."
Penny said she saw roughly eight police vehicles, crime scene tape and a man get driven away in a police vehicle. She said the road was blocked off for three or four hours.
The Columbia Police Dispatch Log show there have been 135 shots heard calls and 46 shots fired calls since Jan. 1 2024. Penny and Brown said they find the trend in crime in Columbia alarming and said it makes them think more about their safety moving forward.
"You definitely have to be more vigilant and aware of your surroundings," Penny said. "I think that there definitely need to be some better protocols especially in the downtown area as a young college student."
