COLUMBIA, MD –UPDATE 5: In the continuing story surrounding the double-shooting outside of The Mall in Columbia on Saturday evening, police have released the identity of the victims. Michael Robertson, 16, of Columbia, was pronounced dead at the scene. Blake McCray, 15, of Columbia, was transported to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center and remains in critical condition.
Emmetson Zeah, the alleged shooter, was arrested overnight. HCPD recovered from Zeah’s residence, a gun and the clothes he allegedly wore during the shooting.
To update earlier information, the shooting took place outside the Lidl grocery store, at The Mall in Columbia, in the area called the bus loop and parking lot areas. The shooting did not take place at the bus stop as reported earlier.
Zeah is also charged with attempted murder in another incident that occurred on Friday, February 14th in the 10200 block of Twin Rivers Road in Columbia. Zeah is alleged to have fired several shots but nobody was struck in that incident.
The Howard Courier is continuing to update this story as information becomes available.
UPDATE 4: Howard County Police overnight arrested Emmetson Zeah, 18, after a manhunt precipitated by a double shooting yesterday evening outside the Mall in Columbia where one victim was pronounced dead at the scene, while another was transported to Shock Trauma in critical condition. According to HCPD, Zeah is charged with first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder, and related charges. He is being held without bail at the Howard County Detention Center.
Both victims are male juveniles. The condition of the victim in critical condition is reported unchanged since Saturday night.
Earlier updates below are in order of original progression.
UPDATE 1 : Second victim is in cardiac arrest according publicly available scanner traffic between Howard County Fire and Rescue and hospital personnel at Shock Trauma at University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore. The victim is being transported by air. This story is being updated as information comes in. The original text continues below.
UPDATE 2: HCPD report that police are on scene in the area of the Mall in Columbia for a shooting. Two are confirmed shot; no suspects in custody. This is NOT an active shooter threat, but we are asking people to avoid the area. We will provide updates on social media and there will be media availability at the scene at some point tonight.
UPDATE 3: HCPD released the following press release at 9:39 pm:
Howard County police are investigating a double shooting that occurred in Columbia this evening.
At approximately 5:52 p.m., police responded to the parking lot and bus loop area outside of Lidl in the 10300 block of Little Patuxent Parkway for a report of shots fired.
Responding officers located two victims with gunshot wounds. One was pronounced dead at the scene, the second was transported to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in critical condition. Both victims are juvenile males.
Preliminary investigation suggests the shooting was targeted, and there was one shooter. Detectives are continuing to interview witnesses and review surveillance video. The investigation is ongoing. Additional information will be released as it becomes available.
Anyone with information is asked to call 911.
HCPD Police Chief Gregory Der called a press briefing for 9:15 tonight. Chief Der confirmed the events described in the subsequent press release. He emphasized that the shootings were targeted and that there is no active shooter situation. He said that the shooting did not occur inside the mall and the mall did not go on lock down according to his knowledge.
Der could not confirm the exact location of the shooting, except that it took place outside The Mall in Columbia, located at 10000 Little Patuxent Parkway.
He confirmed that HCPD is looking for only one shooter. At the time of the briefing, Der had no description of the assailant or any indication whether the perpetrator is a juvenile.
The original article continues below:
A suspect in a shooting outside the Mall in Columbia ran towards the open-space parking lot to evade Howard County Police in a shooting that happened moments ago outside near the public bus stop on Mall Ring Road. The Howard County Police Department is active on the scene. It is being reported that one or perhaps two people have been shot — one in the chest and the other in the head.
One victim has been pronounced dead on the scene by Howard County Emergency Medical Services.
The Howard Courier staff is currently gleaning information from publicly available scanner traffic. No information reported has been confirmed by the HCPD. If anyone has additional information, please contact Howard Courier via email at news@guilfordgazette.com.
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