COLUMBIA, S.C. — Columbia Police are urging witnesses and suspects to step forward with information about a deadly weekend party shooting - before the police find them on their own.
"Get ahead of this and come see us before we come see you," Police Chief Skip Holbrook said.
It's a message that follows a week of little community input in the ongoing investigation of a shooting at Greene Crossing Apartments on Pulaski Street.
"To date, we have not received what I consider to be any material information that has helped us in the investigation," Chief Holbrook said.
However, it also follows an official announcement on Thursday that one person has been arrested.
Chief Holbrook said that police have taken 23-year-old Kejuan Boyce of Columbia into custody on a charge of murder and possession of a firearm during a violent crime.
Holbrook added that Boyce was already out on bond for unlawful carry of a weapon from an incident in Spartanburg last March.
The shooting happened in the early morning hours of Sunday and left a 20-year-old innocent bystander, later identified as Jamacia Dowling, dead. Four other victims ranging from 16 to 22 were also wounded in what police described as a "running gun battle" at an apartment complex known to predominantly house college students.
The University of South Carolina confirmed to News19 that none of the victims in the case were students there, despite the complex's proximity to campus.
Police said a party advertised online was underway at the complex and brought people from around the area, including Boyce, who police believe was involved in an argument with one or more people inside the apartment before he and others began shooting.
"Because of what we know now, multiple people came to the party armed with firearms - handguns and what I would describe as assault-style weapons," Holbrook said.
He added that the first officers to arrive found "gunfire and confusion."
In the days that have followed, the investigation has continued, but Holbrook said that few if any members of the public have come forward with information despite a large number of people seen escaping the scene of the shooting that morning.
"I don't know what it's going to take to shock the conscience of our community," he said.
Some of those people were seen in a video shared during Thursday's press conference. The video showed several people running down a hallway attempting to escape the gunfire.
"People were screaming, there was a lot of chaos, vehicles were fleeing the parking lot and trying to get away," he said.
In what he described as a "running gun battle," the chief said the shooting began in the apartment that hosted the party spilled out into the hallway and eventually onto the curb outside.
Not quite a week later, police are still searching for anyone else involved and anyone who may have information to bring to justice those responsible for senseless death and injury.
In the meantime, the chief urged the community to contact Midlands Crime Stoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC. He also made a promise to the community.
"There's going to be more arrests to this case," Chief Holbrook said. "And I say that again for emphasis. There will be more arrests."