Seventh suspect wanted in Richland County pool shooting turns himself in, sheriff says

Seven people were arrested in a swimming pool shooting in Richland County last month, in which at least 80 shots were fired and a 16-year-old was injured, Sheriff Leon said Lott.

Lott held a news conference Friday to update the investigation into the May 28 shooting in the Lakeshore Village community. The injured man, aged 16, survived.

“I promised we were going to get to the bottom of this and that’s what we’re doing,” Lott said. “And we’re far from done.”

After initially announcing six people had been arrested at the news conference, Lott said a seventh suspect, Joshua House, 22, was still being sought. House was considered the most dangerous because he wielded an automatic rifle during the shootout and fired “many, many bullets.” House was supposed to turn himself in Thursday, but he didn't.

Around 8 a.m. Monday, House was arrested on his way to the sheriff's department headquarters.

House was free on two bonds on unrelated charges at the time of the May shooting, Lott said.

Beyond House, Lott said the investigation is far from over and he expects more people to be arrested.

This “massive investigation” has “a lot of good investigators working on it,” Lott said. “We still have other people we’re going to lock up.”

The shooting was motivated by ongoing conflicts between at least three groups of youths dating back to a murder a year ago in the same neighborhood as last month's shooting, Lott said. The shooting at the pool escalated after someone “had a chain taken off their neck,” Lott said.

“We have an organizational chart showing which team each individual is on and what shoots they are involved in,” Lott said.

During the investigation, officers recovered about 80 shell casings from the shooting, some of which were linked to three other shootings, two in Fairfield County and another in Richland County, Lott said.

Two people were initially arrested after the shooting in northeastern Colombia. At the time, Lott said about 80 young people, many of them teenagers, had gathered around a community pool in the Village at Lakeshore community. Several shooters reportedly fired into the crowd, Lott said.

Sheriff's deputies responded at 8 p.m. to reports of a shooting in the 400 block of Fresh Water Drive, the state reported at the time.

Police say they saw Treshawn Keller, 17, flee the scene with a gun and chased him on foot. Keller faces charges of serious and aggravated battery, unlawful possession of a machine gun and possession of a stolen pistol.

Another suspect, Michael Abara, 21, was also arrested in connection with the shooting later that week. He faces charges of aggravated public order disorder.

Also arrested:

Tramell Richardson, 19, arrested June 3 for aggravated breach of peace and serious and aggravated assault and battery.

Donrae Frierson, 17, arrested June 10 for aggravated breach of peace and serious and aggravated assault and battery.

Kaelon Dixon, 19, arrested June 12 for aggravated breach of peace and battery of a serious and aggravated nature.

Patrick Oliver, 17, arrested June 12 for aggravated breach of peace and serious and aggravated battery.

Several of the suspects were carrying guns when they were arrested, Lott said, but investigators have not been able to connect those weapons to last month's shooting.

“That means they got rid of those guns (used in the pool shooting) or gave them to someone else and then got their hands on other guns,” Lott said.

Deputies also recovered three guns, including a stolen gun that had been modified with a Glock switch, an illegal device capable of turning a pistol into an automatic weapon.

Guns fired by teenagers have been a focus of the Sheriff's Department in recent years. Nine people, including four high school students, were shot last year at a 1 a.m. after-prom party in Meadowlake Park.

This is a developing story. Check back for more details.