ROCK HILL, S.C. — A 17-year-old is facing multiple charges after a shooting killed three teenagers and injured a fourth, police said.
Rock Hill police said the shooting happened around 10 p.m. Tuesday night on Gist road, which is located just off South Cherry Road adjacent to the Grandview Memorial Park cemetery.
Officers responded to the area after getting multiple calls about gunshots. Investigators said three men were in a car parked along the road when two other people, a 17-year-old and a 16-year-old, walked over and shot into the car.
Detectives said a 16-year-old in the driver's seat, identified as Omarion Small, died at the scene. Ahmik Coleman, a 17-year-old in the front passenger seat, returned fire, hitting the two shooters in the road. A third person in the car, who was sitting in the backseat, left the vehicle and ran from the scene, according to police.
“After an initial exchange of gunfire, the two teenage victims were wounded and laying on the ground, the defendant then returned to the scene and executed both of them by shooting and killing them," Detective Taylor Tucker with the Rock Hill Police Department said.
Police said Coleman got out of the car and immediately opened fire again, hitting the two people who were already down on the road. One of those people, 16-year-old Kam'ran Brevard, died at the scene. The other person, 16-year-old Evanta Hart, was taken to Piedmont Medical Center where he died from his injuries.
Coleman was taken to the hospital after being shot in the hand.
Detectives got two warrants for Coleman's arrest following the shooting. He was charged with murder and is being charged as an adult. He was arrested Wednesday night and had his first court appearance on Thursday, April 28.
Police said an ongoing dispute between the two parties led to a deadly gunfight.
Evanta Hart's mother spoke before the judge in court.
“He took everything I love," she said. "[Evanta] was placed with me to be taken care of and I feel in my heart as though I have failed him in such a big way.”
A judge read Coleman his rights and charges. Coleman was not given bond at that hearing and will remain in jail until his next court appearance, which is expected in July. He's facing life in prison on two counts of murder.
Thursday night, police located a 16-year-old girl who police believe drove the two teens to Gist Road the night of the incident. She was taken into custody and charged with murder as a juvenile. As she was charged as a juvenile, her identity is not being made public.
The community crime map shows it's a relatively quiet area with only a handful of thefts in the last month.
Detectives went door to door talking to neighbors on Wednesday morning.
“We were watching television and we heard the gunshots and we weren’t sure if it was fireworks, because a lot of people let off fireworks in the neighborhood, we weren’t really sure because we didn’t hear screaming or anything," one neighbor who wanted to stay anonymous told WCNC Charlotte.
WCNC Charlotte spoke to another neighbor at the scene who said the shooting happened in a safe neighborhood. She said they walk outside almost every other night. The woman also said she's a bit concerned about her safety following the fatal shooting.
Jack Logan, the founder of the advocacy group Put Down the Guns Now Young People said he's planning to ask the Governor and legislators to consider frisk and search laws as a way to keep guns out of the community.
"We must do something to prevent mothers from going to prison for the rest of her life to visit her son or daughter or from going to a mortuary to look down on their son or daughter," he said.
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