COLUMBIA, S.C. — A juvenile suspect is in custody following a shooting at a pool at the Villages at Lakeshore neighborhood in Northeast Richland County.
The incident, which occurred Tuesday night, has left the community shaken and residents questioning their safety.
One person was injured in the incident.
Keesha Geiger, who has lived in the neighborhood for almost seven years, described the chaos.
"It was so loud you couldn't help but hear it," Geiger said. "I'm a little frustrated because this is a nice area, a good neighborhood. It's looking like we're probably going to have to uproot and leave this place."
Geiger recounted her experience: "I was upstairs in the foyer I was eating my salad for dinner and all the sudden out of no where I heard was pop, pop, pop, pop. I ran downstairs to see where my husband was, and I saw kids just running from the pool, kids running, neighbors coming out of the house, everyone was outside, it was bananas."
According to the incident report from the Richland County Sheriff's Department, the shooting occurred around 8 p.m.
Officers spoke to two people at the pool who said they heard gunshots and started to run. One of the victims was injured on the back of his upper arm.
Chandra Cleveland, another resident, also recounted her experience, "I saw the massive amount of people and I was like where are all these people coming from, when the shooting started when I heard it and was like is it really shooting or what and I looked out the window and saw massive of people running down the street,".
"We want to live at peace, so when this happens, it destroys the peace," Geiger added.
Almost every resident News19 spoke with shared growing concerns about safety in the neighborhood.
The apartment complex management company MSJ Inc. confirmed there are currently no security cameras in the neighborhood. They have been in discussions with residents and the Richland County Sheriff's Department to address safety concerns. For now, the pool will be closed.
As for what may have led to the shooting and why the juvenile suspect opened fire, the Sheriff's Department has not yet provided further details.
A press conference about the incident is scheduled for Thursday with Sheriff Leon Lott.