The primary suspect in the Saturday South Carolina mall shooting that left 14 people wounded was released after posting a $25,000 bail on Monday.
Jewayne Price, 22, has been released under house arrest and will be required to wear an ankle monitor as a bond condition. He will be allowed to travel from home to work certain times of the day, the Columbia police department confirmed.
At least nine patrons were injured by gunfire at the mall on Saturday, while five others were trampled in a stampede to the exits. No fatalities had been reported as of late Sunday, although a 73-year-old is still being treated at a local hospital.
Investigators believe a gunfight erupted between people who knew one another at the mall. “At least three suspects displayed firearms,” two of which were believed to have been used, the statement indicates.
The victims range between 15 and 73 years old, Chief Holbrook said.
Police arrested Price on suspicion of unlawful carrying of a pistol. He could face additional charges as more evidence is uncovered.
Price’s attorney, South Carolina state Representative Todd Rutherford, said that his client open-fired in self-defense in an armed altercation with other shooters.
“It was unprovoked by him. He called the police, turned himself in, turned over the firearm that was used in this, and gave a statement to the Columbia Police Department,” Rutherford said after the bond hearing, according to WIS. “That is why he got a $25,000 bond.”
Over the weekend, police detained Price and two others as “people of interest” for questioning, Columbia Police Chief W. H. “Skip” Holbrook said Saturday at a press conference. They determined that the other two weren’t involved and released them, police said in a subsequent statement.
Price was arrested in June 2018 and charged with accessory before the fact in the killing of 17-year-old Amon Rice in Hopkins, S.C.
“We catch people, they serve a little bit of time, they get out and they get right back doing what they normally do and that’s commit crimes,” Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said at a recent press conference. “The criminal justice system needs to do better.”
Price’s arrest comes amid a charged debate on rising crime in cities nationwide and the relaxed law enforcement policies, spearheaded by progressive prosecutors, that many Republicans claim are fueling it. In California, for instance, many Los Angeles district attorneys have supported the recall of certain “rogue” prosecutors whose soft-on-crime approach has emboldened criminals.