Residents, businesses react to recent public violence as police continue search for a motive in Dick’s Sporting Goods shooting

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Sheridan Beardshear was closing her store on the west side of Columbia as usual around 7 p.m. Saturday night.

She did the normal closing procedures in the back of the store, when she heard what she originally believed was a car backfiring. She walked outside of the store and was greeted by a barrage of police vehicles, sirens and fire trucks and quickly realized what she was seeing was bigger than what she thought.

"I thought it was a demonstration or some kind of coordinated event because there was so many of them," Beardshear said.

Beardshear works at Buff City Soap at The Shoppes on Stadium, which is about a three-minute walk from Dick's Sporting Goods. The store was the scene of a massive police response on Saturday night when someone allegedly fired a gun inside the store.

A 17-year-old boy was eventually arrested by state troopers on suspicion of three counts of first-degree assault, one count of first-degree property damage, vehicle hijacking, two counts of unlawful use of a weapon, and two counts of armed criminal action, in connection with the incident.

The Columbia Police Department said the teenager ran away, stole a vehicle and drove away onto Interstate 70 after firing the gun. CPD spokesman Colin Imhoff told ABC 17 News on Monday afternoon that police still aren't sure of the teenager's motive in the shooting. Imhoff said he was not aware of any property damage to the store and an ABC 17 News reporter did not observe any noticeable damage on Monday.

Imhoff also said there was a victim inside of the vehicle that was carjacked. No injuries were reported.

The suspect was taken into custody by the Missouri State Highway Patrol around 8:30 p.m. in Pettis County after crashing on Route V near Bahner Road. Troopers initiated a traffic stop near Sedalia after spotting a grey Nissan Altima-- a vehicle the agency had been on high alert for after CPD entered the license plate into the Flock camera system.

"When a plate is entered into the system, if the plate passes through an area with a camera, it will send a notification to the agency entering the plate. That information can then be relayed to other agencies," Troop A spokesman Cpl. Justin Ewing wrote in an email to ABC 17 News on Monday.

CPD said they were originally called to the area for an active assailant and shots fired around 7 p.m. on Saturday night. Beardshear said after seeing the large response, she decided she didn't need to stick around any longer to know it wasn't an area she should be in, and left.

"I get disappointed sometimes when something like that happens and there's so many people around, but nobody comes over to check on anybody or let them know even that there's an assailant," Beardshear said. "I don't know if they knew at that time where he'd went and so I didn't either but I know that when it's that big of an ordeal and when there's so many moving parts, that's probably something that isn't at the forefront of their mind."

Beardshear wasn't the only one feeling panic and anxiety after seeing the large police presence. Sophia Diya, a junior at the University of Missouri, said she was driving by the area when she saw the large scene.

The two later learned after scrolling on Facebook what had happened.

"I felt nervous and wanted to get away for sure as fast as possible because it's not something you want to be close to," Diya said. "We found out later on that it was a shooting, so we were glad we stayed away as quick as we could."

The pair said they believe there is a lot of crime in the Columbia area, but said it sometimes can feel like there's more than there actually is due to it being a smaller town. However, they said as of recently, it feels as though crime has been encroaching more in areas that they would visit during their day-to-day life.

"It was definitely a time of day where we easily could have been going to Dicks or the mall or somewhere," Lexie Diya-- who's lived in Columbia her entire life said. "That is a little scary, especially with kids now. I just wouldn't want to be caught out alone with my baby in a situation like that so it does feel a little closer to home, in this area especially."

An ABC 17 News reporter saw a security guard working at the front of the Dick's Sporting Goods on Monday afternoon.

Beardshear commended the efforts of police to quickly arrive on scene Saturday night and for having that large of a response. She said while she feels OK since being so close to the incident, it's caused her to be more vigilant.

"I don't have anything lingering, it's just something that makes me a little more cautious when it's dark and that's just a normal way to be," Beardshear said.

ABC 17 News reached out to Boone County Prosecutor Roger Johnson, who said his office had not received any referrals as of Monday.

Another shooting incident at the The Greens -- an apartment complex on the opposite side of the city -- on Sunday led to one woman being killed and two others with life-threatening injuries.

Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe claimed that violent crime numbers for last year are down, but claimed one incident “too many.” D'Markus Thomas Brown, of the city's Office of Violence Prevention Administrator, said his office is working to address crime.

"We're looking at an ecosystem of care that goes into place when we’re looking at what the causes are, what is the psyche of the individuals doing the acts of violence, what are the resources they're accessing, who has access to them," Thomas Brown said.