COLUMBIA, S.C. — Funeral arrangements have been announced for a 16-year-old Keenan High School student shot and killed over the weekend.
Services for Julian Armel Keel will be held at 1 pm on Friday, June 7, at Second Nazareth Baptist Church at 2300 Elmwood Avenue in Columbia. Leevy’s Funeral Home is assisting the family.
Keel was shot and killed in the parking lot of a wings restaurant in the 1400 block of Colonial Life Boulevard, off Bush River Road, around 12:30 a.m. Sunday. Keel was a rising senior at Keenan High and a three-sport athlete.
According to Columbia Police (CPD), between Saturday night and early Sunday morning, large groups of teenagers were attending a graduation event at the restaurant when a fight broke out in the parking lot and shots were fired. More than 50 rounds from at least four different firearms were recovered after the event.
Keel was attempting to leave when he was hit in the upper body. He was transported to a local hospital where he later died from his injuries.
CPD investigators believe Keel was an innocent bystander and not involved in the fight at the time of the shooting.