Newberry rolls up on the Vista
SEPTEMBER 17, 2017 5:21 PM
COLUMBIA, SC
Suspects in a shooting in Columbia’s popular Vista entertainment district are from Newberry and drove several cars during the burst of gunfire that injured eight, according to law enforcement reports on Sunday.
Warrants obtained by The State newspaper begin to paint a clearer picture of the mayhem that erupted Saturday after midnight outside the Empire Supper Club.
The shooting was driven by a conflict between two groups, Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook said Saturday during a news conference.
The warrants obtained Sunday seem to indicate the gunfire began with several men shooting at one another from cars.
The suspect charged with seven counts of attempted murder, John Earl Bates Jr., 28, shot a fellow 22-year-old suspect, Maleik Houseal, as well as Houseal’s brother, according to the warrants.
That might indicate that a conflict between Bates and Houseal is at the center of Saturday’s shooting. Authorities also said Sunday that a second shooting around 5 a.m. at a Broad River Road club could be connected to the one in the Vista.
Holbrook said Sunday the Vista incident is not considered a drive-by shooting because the gunmen were not firing randomly into a crowd. He said that even though bystanders were among those hit.
A dark Ford Mustang, with paper tags, and a white Ford Crown Victoria are among the cars involved in the crime at the Empire club.
Bates opened fire Saturday around 2:15 a.m. from the Mustang he was driving after rolling down a window, according to warrants. Seven people were struck during that volley, including Houseal and his brother.
Someone else who was about a block away, across Gervais Street, on the 1100 block of Park Street, also was hit. The club is at 920 Lady St., where Lady intersects with Park.
Bates immediately drove himself to nearby Palmetto Health Baptist hospital, where video surveillance captured his presence, the warrants state. A witness not named in the warrant also identified Bates, who has a criminal history that dates to his teens.
Bates and one other of the four men charged were denied bond Sunday. Houseal is still hospitalized and bond has not yet been set for him.
Of the others, Keveas Gallman, 28, was a front seat passenger in the Crown Victoria, according to the warrants. Using a .380-caliber handgun owned by Houseal, Gallman fired at least twice, striking one man, the documents show.
Jarvis Tucker, 26, was driving the Crown Victoria, the warrants state. Tucker is charged with being an accessory after the fact. The warrants say he confessed to that.
Houseal, the youngest of the suspects and the one hospitalized, told police he fired in self-defense.
The warrants that charge him say he is captured on video firing a gun and then trying to hide the weapon. The gun has been located, police said in the warrants.
Investigators plan to serve Houseal with warrants that charge him, at minimum, with having a firearm despite a violent crime conviction and with unlawful possession of a firearm.
No charges have been announced against Houseal’s brother.
PREVIOUS CHARGES
Three of the four men charged have prior arrest records in South Carolina, but Bates has the longest and most serious rapsheet, according to information from the State Law Enforcement Division.
A 2012 attempted murder charge in Newberry County was dismissed, SLED records show. But Bates was convicted and sentenced to state prison on a Newberry charge of first-degree assault and battery. He also served 30 days on a third-degree assault charge.
Other convictions include malicious injury to property.
In 2006, at the age of 17, Bates was charged by Newberry police with assault and battery with intent to kill, possession of a weapon during a violent crime and possession of a stolen pistol, according to a SLED background check.
Other charges on his record include second offense criminal domestic violence, disorderly conduct and use of a firearm while under the influence.
In 2012, Houseal, then 17, faced charges of second-degree burglary and possession of a stolen firearm from the Newberry County Sheriff’s Office. He was not convicted of those charges, but was convicted of carrying a firearm in a restricted area, for which he received five years suspended to 30 months and 18 months probation.
Later in 2012, Houseal was convicted of a misdemeanor charge of unlawful carrying of a pistol.
In March 2016, he was convicted of one count of second-degree burglary, third-degree burglary, carrying a firearm and drug possession. Houseal was sentenced to 18 months probation.
By May 13, 2017, Houseal was arrested again by Newberry deputies on a possession of marijuana charge.
In 2007, a 17-year-old Gallman was sentenced as a youthful offender to 18 months probation after he had been charged with making or distributing crack cocaine and possession of a controlled substance.
Tucker had no previous arrest record, according to SLED.
Staff writer Bristow Marchant contributed to this report.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Glenn
Bookmarks