A 15-year-old boy is one of two people arrested Friday in a shooting at a Columbus gas station that injured nine children, police said.
D’Angelo Robinson Sr., 35, was booked into the Muscogee County Jail and is facing eight counts of aggravated assault. The boy, whose name was not released, was identified by police as a “validated gang member” and is facing one count of aggravated assault. He was taken to the Regional Youth Detention Center.
“Incidents like this, it really impacts all of us,” Columbus police Chief Freddie Blackmon said last week during a news conference. “This incident will not be tolerated. Incidents of this type will not be tolerated.”
The Feb. 17 shooting happened at a Shell along Warm Springs Road shortly after 10 p.m. Seven teenagers and two younger kids were shot and taken to a hospital with injuries not considered life-threatening, according to police.
The victims included a 5-year-old boy, a 12-year-old boy, two 13-year-old girls, a boy also 13, a 14-year-old boy, two 15-year-old boys and a 17-year-old boy.
Blackmon said that a fight occurred at a party, which appears to have taken place at a warehouse, and that dispute spilled into the gas station, where gunfire occurred.
Authorities said they are unsure if any of the children’s parents who attended the party were at the gas station during the shooting. The 5-year-old victim was in the area of the Shell with a family member and not at the party, Blackmon said.
“The rash of gun violence involving our youth is impacting communities across the country,” Blackmon said. “While Columbus is not immune to these incidents, I want to assure citizens that the men and women of CPD are tirelessly working to get violent offenders off our streets. It is going to take a community effort to combat gun violence in our city. The entire village has a responsibility because incidents like this impacts all of us.”
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