COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ).
Columbia Mayor Barbara Buffaloe is planning to take steps toward addressing violence downtown.
Buffalo responded on social media to an early morning shooting on Saturday that left three people injured, calling it “one too many.” She announced plans to create a task force of city, county, university, business, and community leaders to address downtown safety in a more coordinated way.
The city has already taken steps to strengthen its police presence downtown. Police ramped up its enforcement of misdemeanor offenses downtown in an effort to reduce violent incidents.
In June, Columbia added eight officers to the night shift, increasing patrol staffing by about 20 percent compared to last summer, according to Buffaloe’s post.
Columbia police responded to the shooting just before 2 a.m. Saturday in the 900 block of East Broadway.
The Columbia Police Department said 23-year old Misael Covarrubias, of Fellsmere, Florida, was involved in an argument near Ninth and Broadway when he pulled out a gun and fired multiple times. He was taken into custody and appeared on the Boone County Jail roster Saturday evening without bond.
The people he was arguing with were not hit. Instead, three bystanders, a man and two women, were caught in the gunfire.
All three victims were taken to the hospital. Police say one of the woman’s injuries are life-threatening.
Melissa Payne spends her weekends in downtown Columbia to collect money to pay her medical bills. What she thought would be an ordinary weekend turned into a day she will never forget.
“I seen several people injured. I found out that a young lady had been shot in her head and another man in his leg. I am on this walker thingy, so I tried to get down the street as quickly as I could. I was scared. I got to the quickest alley I could get to,” Payne said.
Kailee Whisber, a woman who claims to be friends with the woman who suffered life-threatening injuries said the situation is heartbreaking.
“We left like 20 minutes before and yeah, she’s in critical condition. It’s very unfortunate, and she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Whisber said.
Despite the overnight shooting, downtown bars were still busy Saturday night, with lines wrapped around the block for MU’s homecoming.
MU student Kaylie Stuart said she still feels some level of safety, crediting the police response.
“I think it’s really scary, but I think that seeing the response from the police force just coming as quickly as possible and trying to address it makes me feel a little better. But I just think keeping vigilinace while you’re going out is really important,” Stuart said.
Other students also expressed confidence in law enforcement.
“I still feel safe. I think that our police department here is awesome, and they do a great job at keeping it, keeping it calm and peaceful afterwards. So yeah, it’s really unfortunate, but I think I think everything will get go down a better road,” Tatum, Scharfen said.
Payne said that safety downtown has to be a priority.
“This is ridiculous. Our kids and our homeless people. I mean, we deserve to be safe down here instead of random drive by shootings. Bullets have no eyes,”