Police linked two weekend shootings to a Douglass High School student after he brought a loaded .45-caliber handgun to classes on Tuesday.
Police arrested 17-year-old Alonzo Stevens and an unnamed 16-year-old female at about 10:20 a.m., after a staff member reported the two engaging in suspicious activity.
The staff member noticed the two were acting oddly near a bathroom, a Columbia Police Department news release stated. Stevens exited the bathroom carrying a purse, which he subsequently handed off to the female. Administrators then stopped her and found the weapon concealed in her purse.
Columbia Public Schools spokeswoman Michelle Baumstark said CPD provides school resource officers in several buildings. Employees are also trained to recognize suspicious activity.
“Our employees did exactly what they’re supposed to do,” Baumstark said. “We’re very proud of the fact that they were able to recognize the suspicious behavior and bring it to the attention to administrators within the building so it could be handled quickly.”
She said this is not the first time a weapon has been brought to school, but she could not place an extra date on the last time it had happened. The school district has a policy in place to deal with these occurrences.
“The first step is for the police to go through their investigative process, and then we’ll follow our board policies regarding these types of situations that occur,” Baumstark said. “If you look at the policy, bringing weapons to school would have you as subject to expulsion.”
After Stevens’ arrest, detectives learned he was present at two crime scenes early Sunday morning; the shots fired at Town and Country Bowling Lanes and a shooting shortly later near Wilkes Boulevard and Paris Road.
Detectives determined a .45-caliber gun was utilized in the incident at the bowling alley. Stevens told the police he fired several shots at the alley, but refused to say whom he was targeting.
During the latter incident, two victims, 15 and 16-year-olds, were shot and taken to the hospital. Stevens admitted he was with the two men when they were shot and attempted to return fire, but was too late, as the van with the perpetrators had already departed.
“Due to the investigation being active, we will likely not release a lot more until we have more info and are ready to make an arrest, if there are even more arrests to be made,” CPD spokeswoman Jill Wieneke said.
He also admitted he knew the gun was “dirty,” or stolen, when he bought it. This was later confirmed through computer records. Detectives on the case believe the two incidents are gang related, and Stevens has been verified as a member of one of them. No motives for the feud are known at this time.
Stevens was charged with three counts of unlawful use of a weapon and one count of receiving stolen property. The other suspect was arrested for one count of unlawful use of a weapon.
