‘You could have killed all my grandkids’: Woman reacts to grandson being shot in face
By Ben Elias
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COLUMBIA, Missouri (KOMU) — Editor’s Note This article has been updated with information on past shots fired incidents in the area after the Boone County Sheriff’s Office issued a correction about information it shared with KOMU 8.
A 15-year-old boy was shot early Tuesday morning in Boone County.
Boone County Sheriff deputies found the juvenile with a gunshot wound in the face around 12:04 a.m. at North Parkview Court in the Sunrise Estates subdivision.
The teen was in stable condition as of Tuesday morning, according to the Boone County Sheriff’s office. The victim’s grandmother, Vanessa Lowe, confirmed the teen was still in stable condition Tuesday afternoon.
Boone County Sheriff Captain Brian Leer told KOMU 8 that there have been several nearby shots fired incidents in the last few months.
Victim’s grandmother reacts to shooting Lowe told KOMU 8 there were multiple children in her daughter’s house at the time of the shooting.
“You could have killed all my grandkids in that one house, you know, 15 bullet holes,” Lowe said.
She said there were even more bullet holes in other parts of the house.
“That’s just in the bedroom,” Lowe said. “That’s not out in the back door, the bathroom — they shot the bathroom, the toilet. If one of my grandkids were sitting on that toilet, it definitely would have killed them.”
After an initial investigation, the Sheriff’s Office said it is believed the 15-year-old was inside the residence when the gunshot rounds were fired into the home from outside.
“The boys were playing a video game and bullets started coming through the windows and the walls and everything else,” Lowe said. “It almost got my 9-year-old grandson. It almost got two of my other grandsons in the room. My nine-year-old was running down the hall trying to get to his mama.”
‘Warring groups’ in Columbia Lowe said she believes this was a targeted attack and could be gang-related.
Boone County Sheriff deputies confirmed to KOMU 8 Tuesday night that the shooting was a targeted attack.
Columbia’s Violence Prevention Administrator, D’Markus Thomas Brown, told KOMU 8 on Tuesday there are warring groups in Columbia, and that he believes it’s a problem the city has to address.
“These are groups that are warring at each other and (if you) let someone get between them, you’re going to get hit in the crossfire,” Brown said.
Brown said it’s not only important to address the crimes specifically, but also the factors that contribute to violence in the city.
“We must address the root of ‘why,'” Brown said. “What are the root causes spurring of these gangs, to those joining them? But also, what are the social terms of health that are there are causing an atmosphere as a festering bed for them to develop in our city?”
This investigation is ongoing and no arrests have been made, according to the Boone County Sheriff’s Office.
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