Law officers, community groups discuss pain, solutions for Midlands gun violence

The upstairs conference room at the downtown Richland County Library was filled with dozens of people addressing the growing problem of gun violence in the Midlands.

Stakeholders from law enforcement, faith groups and local nonprofits shared their frustrations, brainstormed solutions, and traded stories of those lost to gun violence.

The conversation on Saturday followed a number of high-profile shootings in Richland County, including one at the Columbiana Centre mall in April that injured 15 people.

“This continues to happen. At some point we have to ask when we’re going to do something about it,” said Capt. Marcus Kim, a member of the Richland County Sheriff’s Department’s community action team.

In 2021, the Richland County Sheriff’s Department responded to 32 murders, all of them from shootings, according to the department. The Columbia Police Department recorded an additional 20 homicides, 15 from firearms.

In comparison, 22 murders were reported in all of Richland County in 2020.

Law enforcement officials emphasized that they were regularly making arrests for gun crimes.

“Every day we’re taking guns off the street,” Kim said. But advocates also argued for more resources, both to prevent crimes and rehabilitate criminals.

“What are they (released prisoners) coming home to?” asked the Rev. Carey Grady, the pastor of Reid Chapel AME Church and co-president of MORE Justice, a Midlands-based advocacy group. “It’s a vicious cycle… If the person gets out and they don’t have anything to come home to they’re going to repeat the cycle.”

Gun violence among young people, which is the leading cause of death for teens in America, continues to be a focus both for community groups and law enforcement. “We are losing a generation of 14- to-28-year-olds to gun violence,” Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott said in an editorial published in The State.

Speaking from the crowd, Sgt. Joe White at the Richland County Sheriff’s Department expressed the frustration that law enforcement agencies are seen as being solely responsible for addressing the problem.

“We don’t have all the answers,” said White. “I think what communities should do is go downtown and start talking to their lawmakers.”

Representatives of Moms Demand Action, which advocates for gun control laws, encouraged attendees to closely examine politicians’ track records on guns.

“We’ve got to get involved,” said Roberta McKelvin, speaking on behalf of MOMS Demand Action. McKelvin’s son, Nathaniel, was shot and killed in Five Points in 2014. An arrest

“That’s why I’m out here sharing my son’s story.”