A shooting just outside the Boone Tavern & Restaurant early Saturday morning left one person injured.
No arrests have been made in the incident that occurred just before 1 a.m. near the intersection of Ninth and Walnut streets, according to the Columbia Police Department.
“There was a disturbance inside the restaurant that had spilled into the street,” CPD spokeswoman Latisha Stroer said.
As officers approached, two groups were separating and multiple shots were fired, according to the release. Between 20 and 25 shots were fired, injuring one 19-year-old victim and damaging several cars and buildings on Ninth Street between Walnut and Ash streets. Stroer said the Boone County Government Center was one of the buildings struck.
Stroer said she did not have an update on the condition of the victim, but his gunshot wound was not life-threatening.
“It appears the victim was uncooperative and so were the witnesses,” Stroer said. “They were unable to make a case from that.”
Stroer said the officers believe they have identified the parties involved, but without statements from others involved, CPD was unable to establish probably cause and make any arrests.
“We’re looking into it to see if it was related to other shots fired incidents recently,” Stroer said. “We’re just trying to establish a connection between the shootings and see if it could have been the same people involved.”
Within the last few weeks, CPD has sent out news releases about two other shots fired incidents, but arrests were not made in either case. One occurred Jan. 30 in the 200 block of Lincoln Drive, where a 22-year-old victim was shot in the thigh after an argument with the suspect.
The second incident occurred Wednesday afternoon, when officers responded to separate shots fired calls on Redwing Drive and Mary Street. No one was injured in these incidents, but officers were unable to make arrests for either.
Anyone with information is urged to call CPD or submit tips anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 573-875-TIPS.