COLUMBIA - Columbia Police have no new information about a shot fired incident that occurred this morning on a street near Our Lady of Lourdes causing the lockdown of the school.
Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School in Columbia was placed on lockdown after a shot was fired on a nearby street about 11:30. The lockdown was lifted around 1 this afternoon when police notified school officials there that the incident had been resolved.
The Columbia Police Department said prior to the shot being fired, witnesses saw a black male walking near the 1000 block of Claudell Lane. At the same time a blue car drove by, and the driver of the car had a handgun in his possession. Then, they said a shot was fired, and the man on foot took off running through the apartment complex. The man on foot was out of sight before police arrived in the area.
Police initially called and notified the Columbia School District of shots fired at a nearby apartment complex.
“We do have safety and security procedures in place,” said Michelle Baumstark, community relations director for the Columbia Public School District. “All of our schools are in lockdown all of the time. So, depending on the type of situation, if there is imminent or immediate threat to one of our schools, then we would take additional safety precautions.”
Latisha Stroer with the Columbia Police Department said, “We did report to the schools nearby, and officers are looking for the driver of the blue vehicle, as well as the black make that took off running from the area.”
Stroer said that there are no known updates at this time. She adds that the Columbia police don’t have a lot of information right now because they are unaware whether the people involved lived in the area.