One teenager was sent to the hospital and another was arrested after a shooting that put a Columbus business on lockdown.
Thursday morning, 17-year-old Brandon Perry encountered another 17-year-old whom he argued with previously, according to Terrie Songer, public information officer for the Columbus Police Department.
When they saw each other Thursday morning, “the suspect got a gun and shot the victim in the hand,” she said.
The shooting occurred near Moss Street after an argument about a girl, Songer said, and the argument started somewhere else.
It is unknown whether the girl was a girlfriend of either party.
Police initially responded to a call of two males with guns walking near the railroad tracks at Moss Street just off Waterworks Road at about 11 a.m. Soon after, shots were fired, and Columbus police and Lowndes County sheriff’s deputies surrounded Sanderson Plumbing and stayed for more than an hour as dogs swept the area and officers kept a lookout for the shooting suspect.
Police were stationed at each entrance, and an officer was posted on 22nd Street North, keeping an eye on the woods outside the company’s fence in case the suspect fled there. Dozens of onlookers poured onto Seventh Avenue and 22nd Street to watch the scene unfold.
Songer said police had information Perry was inside the plant. Police evacuated the business before conducting a search of the property.
After about an hour, Columbus Police Chief Selvain McQueen said search dogs went through the property and did not find Perry.
Messages left for officials at Sanderson Plumbing were not returned by press time. Sanderson Plumbing produces toilet seats and custom molding.
An officer reported via radio at around 12:15 p.m. that he took Perry into custody at his Southside Columbus home.
Police charged Perry, of 1419 Sixth St. S., with aggravated assault in connection with the shooting, Songer said, noting McQueen sent officers to check for Perry at his home.
The victim identified Perry as his shooter in a statement to police, according to CPD Investigator L.C. Cockrell.
An officer found the injured teen in the parking lot of Sanderson Plumbing, at Seventh Avenue and 22nd Street North near the train tracks. An ambulance took him to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle.
It is unknown whether the injured teen had a gun, Songer said, and police are still investigating the incident.
“We’re going to look at all the 911 calls and whether there were more shots fired, but at this point only Perry was charged,” Songer said.
Police did not release the injured teen’s name; he has not been charged in the incident. And Songer said the teen was released from the hospital Thursday afternoon.
Perry is being charged as an adult because he is 17 and committed a felony offense, McQueen said. Perry’s initial hearing was scheduled for today at 10 a.m., according to McQueen.
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