Couple in car shot at by men at hotel in Columbia: SC cops

A man was hurt Monday when he and his girlfriend were shot at while in the back of a car at a hotel in Columbia, according to the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department.

The 29-year-old Columbia resident was shot several times while in the parking lot of the Country Inn & Suites at 414 Piney Grove Road, according to an incident report provided by the sheriff’s department. That’s near Bower Parkway, about a quarter mile from Exit 104 on Interstate 26, and close to the Richland County line.

The man’s medical team notified deputies that his injuries are not considered life threatening, department spokesman Capt. Adam Myrick told The State Tuesday. Further information on his condition was not available.

His girlfriend, a 28-year-old Columbia resident who told deputies she has been staying at the hotel near the Harbison area, was not injured, according to the incident report.

No other injuries were reported.

At about 7:30 p.m., deputies responded to reports of a shooting at the hotel, the incident report said.

While EMS tended to the man’s injuries, a deputy interviewed his girlfriend. She said the man had come to visit her at the hotel and the shooting happened while they were “being intimate in the back of his vehicle,” according to the incident report.

While in the back of the car, the woman told the deputy she saw an unknown car and an unknown SUV pull behind her boyfriend’s car, and then two men approached their vehicle checking to see if anyone was inside, the incident report said.

When the two men realized the woman and her boyfriend were in the car, they began ordering the man to exit the vehicle, saying “Get out the car,” according to the incident report.

She told deputies that the two men opened fire on the car, which was struck several times, the incident report said.

The car was riddled with bullet holes and glass windows were broken, according to the incident report. No other property was reported as damaged.

The deputy said a bullet and at least eight empty shells from two different guns, including a handgun, were found around the vehicle. Crime scene investigators and deputies in the major crimes division also responded to the scene, while the victim’s car was towed to the sheriff’s department headquarters, according to the incident report.

There was no word on the shooters’ identifications, or a motive for the gunfire.

No arrests have been reported by the sheriff’s department, which is continuing to investigate the shooting that was called an aggravated assault in the incident report.

Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 888-CRIME-SC or submit an online tip.