Columbia’s youth gun crime numbers dropping, but violence remains priority for city office

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The City of Columbia has long said it is working to curb violence and gun crimes, especially crimes involving youth, even as stories of young people and guns seem to be a regular occurrence.

Part of that policy push has been the creation of the Office of Violence Prevention, whose onset has seen a drop in youth gun violence.

According to Missouri State Highway Patrol data, as of Dec. 10, Columbia gun crimes involving youth offenders this year have dropped by more than 50% from 2024. The number of youth gun crime victims also dropped by more than 50% as well.

MSHP gun-related crimes

• Gun crimes involving youth (10 to 17 years old)
  • 2025: 33
  • 2024: 71
• Age group with the most offenders
  • 2025: Age 18-24 with 81 gun crimes
  • 2024: Age 18-24 with 84 gun crimes
• Gun crimes by sex
  • 2025: 88% male
  • 2024: 83% male
• Youth victims of gun crimes (10 to 17 years old)
  • 2025: 32 victims
  • 2024: 70 victims

In the last year, the City of Columbia created its Office of Violence Prevention. Administrator D'Markus Thomas-Brown is the first person to lead the office and stepped into the role on March 31, 2025.

"My duties in the role are really to coordinate and collaborate with community-based organizations and the place of intervention and prevention," Thomas-Brown said. "[We're] educating the public on what that is and what the different lanes of prevention and intervention are."

He says the office aims to develop community-based organizations that can be run locally. Thomas-Brown says multiple organizations such as Job Point, Flourish Initiative, Columbia Supreme, P.E.A.C.E. and H.O.P.E. Center for Youth, Powerhouse Community Development Corporation and Connections to Success, provide examples.

"There's a couple of programs or initiatives that are looking to identify this age range and those kids that tend to be most at risk," Thomas-Brown said.

But he said a big gap in these programs is that parents have to have some involvement and motivate the children. "But we're missing the shooters," he said. "We're missing those who are actually the ones most at risk of being shot or shooting someone."

He said the group of children who are missing from these programs are "already kind of removed from school," so getting these intervention measures in front of this missing group is something the office needs to focus on.

He's spoken with 15 and 16-year-old children with access to semi-automatic assault-style rifles, Thomas-Brown said.

"It's just wild seeing juveniles with that access to those weapons. I think that's been kind of not a norm in years prior."

This fall and winter have seen multiple shootings involving youth shooters and victims:

• December
  • A Columbia teenager was charged with allegedly threatening a family with an AR-15.
  • On Dec. 2, a 15-year-old was shot in the face while inside a Boone County home on North Parkview Court. The Boone County Sheriff's Office said the shots came from outside the home.
• November
  • 17-year-old Anthony K. Marine was charged with second-degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon. Police say Marine shot and killed a person with the initials Z.N. in May.
  • Police arrested a 16-year-old boy who allegedly robbed a Phillips 66 on Paris Road. Police say this teen was linked to other robberies in the Columbia area.
• October
  • Police arrested 19-year-old Jordan Hunt and a juvenile for allegedly robbing a person at gunpoint on Talon Road.

Thomas-Brown says he wants to break the barrier of access the younger group and also get parents involved.

On Dec. 9, Thomas-Brown sat down with Columbia's Youth Advisory Council to explain his work in the Office of Violence Prevention. At the meeting, he said giving kids in the community a voice to tell people what is going on in the area is crucial.

"Starting out in this office, I made it a point that I want CPS to be recipients of what we do at this office," Thomas-Brown said. "Thanks to Dr. Klein and some of the administrative staff there, we are getting closer partnerships with them, with one of their admin being on the advisory committee for the Office of Violence Prevention."

Thomas-Brown stressed the importance of kids having a good role model in their lives and how this can create a major difference in the path a child takes in life.

Columbia Police Lt. Matt Gremore said he has seen the same effect.

"One of the most important things you can have is a good role model, whether that be a parent or a guardian," Gremore said. "That is a full-time, all-day and night job. That's not just a meeting with someone or a one-time basketball game or something, it's got to be consistent."

In the next year, Thomas-Brown said he would love to see a rapid response team to get individuals in front of people who have been shot or shot at. He also said he wants community organizations to collaborate more, so groups can play to their strengths and stretch funding and available resources.

Thomas-Brown says the office has applied to the Department of Justice for a grant that would add at least three full-time employees. He said the DOJ did not provide a date when a decision would be made on the funding, and the office is still waiting to hear back on a decision.

Unsolved youth shooting: Bryant Wilks II

On Oct. 25, 2020, Columbia Police responded to the 300 block of West Brookside Lane at around 1 a.m. for a report of shots heard.

They found 17-year-old Bryant Wilks II had been shot, and he was pronounced dead at the scene. No one else was hurt. Police say there was a party in the area involving teens and young adults.

CPD is investigating 17 unsolved homicide cases with 19 victims dating back to 1985. ABC 17 News has covered seven cases in our 'Mid-Missouri's Cold Case Files' reporting.

• Michael Walker Jr. & Jeffery Jones
• Garbrielle Rhodes
• George Showalter
• Virginia ‘Ginger’ Davis
• Edmond ‘Ricky’ Randolph Jr.
• Jamar Hicks
• Antonio Houston and Danielle Marine

Watch the latest "Mid-Missouri's Cold Case Files: The Case of Bryant Wilks II" at 10 p.m. Wednesday on ABC 17 News.