COLUMBIA, S.C. — Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott says three suspects have been arrested in a shooting that left three Eau Claire High School students dead and an Alcorn Middle School student injured.
Tuesday, a 14-year-old was taken into custody into the killing. The suspect's name is not being released due to his age. Late Monday, 17-year-old Karlos Damon Gibson and 17-year-old Jakeem Griffin were arrested. All three will face three counts of attempted murder and one count of attempted murder.
The three are accused of killing 16-year-old Jakobe Fanning, 17-year-old Dre’Von Riley, 16-year-old Caleb Wise as well as wounding a 14-year-old.
Each teen went to Eau Claire High School. Linda Maxwell, a school volunteer and family friend ,said she saw Jakobe every day.
“Beautiful personality beautiful person when I tell you you call his name all you do is smile so that they let you know right there the love that he has on the inside as a reflection on house," he said.
According to the Richland County Sheriff's Department, deputies were dispatched around 2 p.m. Sunday to the 200 block of Saddletrail Road, which is off Fairfield Road, just outside of Columbia. That is in the Lincolnshire subdivision.
Deputies say when they got to the scene they found four people with gunshot wounds, The sheriff's department said they were taken to an area hospital for treatment. Three of the victims died while the 14-year-old was shot in the lower body and has been released.
Lott said the shooting arose over what he called "something stupid:" A beef that had begun years ago.
"You stand here and you shake your head and you wonder why," Lott said. "Why can't these kids do something else than resort to violence and using guns?"
Lott said the victims were sitting in front of the house when the shooters walked up to them an started firing. He said there was a chaotic scene because of so many gunshots fired.
Lott said there were looking to make additional arrests.
Maxwell said she's just looking for a change in the community.
“We need tougher laws out there. Stop saying what you're going to do and do it.”
Several community leaders also joined Sheriff Lott at the news conference to say something must be done to make the situation better. Richland County Councilwoman Gretchen Barron said there are efforts in place to try and address the problems in the district, some of which were being led by the late State Sen. John Scott, who died over the summer. She said she's working to get those efforts to keep going, despite the loss of Scott.
"We have resources in our community that can address these issues, but they need that nudge, they need that push, they need that financial support and training to be able to do those things," Barron said.
But she said the community itself must say this is unacceptable.
"'This is our community. we can not leave it up to the school district to put these things in place we've got to take care of our children, we've got to take care of our neighbors," she said.
Richland School District One has confirmed all three of the slain students went to Eau Claire High School on Monticello Road.
In a statement, Richland One Superintendent Dr. Craig Witherspoon said: “The Richland One family is grieving the loss of three young lives to senseless gun violence. Three Eau Claire High School students were killed Sunday afternoon (September 24, 2023) in an incident that occurred on Saddletrail Road. Our Crisis Team is at Eau Claire today to provide counseling and support to any students and staff who may need assistance. We also have additional security on campus as a precaution. This is an unimaginable tragedy, and we ask everyone to keep the students’ families and the students and staff at Eau Claire High School in your thoughts and prayers.”
The sheriff's department described the situation as active and urged anyone with information to contact Crime Stoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC or CrimeSC.com.