Two men were shot in Columbia, South Carolina, in the 400 block of Bush River Road near its intersection with Broad River Road, and both remain hospitalized as investigators work to piece together what happened. No arrests have been made, and police have not released any information about a motive or the number of people involved.
According to The State, Columbia police reported that the two men were shot at about 6 a.m. Sunday and suffered critical injuries. The outlet reported that further details on their conditions were not available, and no other injuries were reported from the incident.
A conflicting account from WIS-TV states that the Columbia Police Department said the shooting happened overnight Friday into Saturday, also in the 400 block of Bush River Road, and that the two men were seriously hurt and receiving medical treatment. The two reports do not agree on either the timing of the shooting or the severity of the victims' injuries, and neither discrepancy has been resolved.
What Investigators Have — and Haven't — Said
Columbia police are investigating the shooting, but as of the reports, information about the shooter or shooters, and how many people were involved, was not available. There was also no word on a motive. Anyone with information is asked to call Crimestoppers at 888-CRIME-SC or submit an online tip.
The shooting adds to what police describe as a troubling pattern this year. Since the start of 2026, Columbia has recorded 36 shootings and five fatalities, according to the police department, as reported by The Post and Courier. Police also told the outlet there has been an uptick in shootings over the past few months, and that within one hour during a single week, officers responded to three separate shootings, one of them fatal.
A Shifting Hot Spot Along the Broad River Corridor
Columbia police told the Post and Courier that gun violence has historically concentrated in northeast Columbia, but the department is now also seeing activity along the Broad River corridor — the same general area where Sunday's shooting occurred. The paper also reported that most shootings in the city tend to stem from sudden altercations or ongoing disputes between people who already know each other, rather than random violence. Three shooting victims this year have been juveniles, ages 11, 15 and 17, per the same report.
Bush River Road has seen violence before. On May 7, deputies were dispatched to the 1100 block of Bush River Road after a shooting left 24-year-old Anthony Thompson dead; the Richland County Coroner's Office identified him the following day. Investigators said Kevin Jenkins, 55, who knew the victim, was in a verbal altercation with him before the shooting and was later found at a homeless camp near the scene, according to the Post and Courier. He was charged with murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime.
In June, a separate shooting unfolded nearby at 851 Bush River Road, where deputies responded to reports of shots fired and found a woman with a gunshot wound to her upper body, according to a news release from the Richland County Sheriff's Department. That victim was shot while trying to drive away from an altercation in the restaurant's parking lot, and the sheriff's department said the case remained an ongoing investigation.
The city's gun violence numbers haven't always trended upward. The Columbia Police Department has said that in 2024, the city saw a more than 40% decrease in fatal and non-fatal shootings, and that as of September of that year, its 12-month shooting average was lower than at any point in more than a decade, according to the department's own gun violence reduction page. Police have also noted that April, May and June historically bring higher levels of gun violence that typically wane by mid-summer.
No new details about Sunday's shooting on Bush River Road had emerged as of the reports. Anyone with information is urged to contact Crimestoppers, and those with an emergency should call 911.
