Man injured in apparent drive-by shooting at Columbia gas station

COLUMBIA — A 28-year-old man was shot once in the upper arm in the parking lot of Midwest Petroleum on the corner of Business Loop 70 East and Range Line Street on Saturday night.

At about 7:30 p.m., Columbia police received a call about multiple shots fired, police spokeswoman Jill Wieneke said. There was a report of a possible dark-colored sedan driving north on Range Line Street, she said.

When police arrived, people from Welcome Home Inc., a local veterans' home, were applying pressure to the man's wound, Wieneke said. The man was stable and talking. He was taken to the hospital by ambulance.

At the time of the shooting, there were people in the parking lot, who were completely uninvolved, Wieneke said. Three vehicles, including the victim's, were shot.

A small child, between 2 and 4 years old, was inside the victim's car but was unharmed, Wieneke said. There was also a 6-year-old girl, who was also unharmed, in one of the other cars hit by the bullets, she said.

"It sounds like right now we are dealing with a situation where someone drove by and fired shots," Wieneke said.

The number of shots fired has not been determined, she said.

"The scanner said four to five, but in reality that could be 10, that could be two, based on how people hear gunfire," Wieneke said.

Sean Burke, who lives on Range Line Street a few houses down from the gas station, was sitting on his couch when he heard the shots.

"I hit the deck after the second shot," he said.

Catlyn Finley, who lives with Burke, was taking a nap when the shots woke her.

She said she came upstairs and they "convened in the kitchen."

Wieneke said police have not apprehended any suspects. Police officers planned to speak with the victim, talk to witnesses and look at the gas station's surveillance video to try to get a description of the car.