Shots were fired Sunday for a second time in about a week into a house at the center of a fatal shooting, according to Columbus Police Chief Fred Shelton.
Several gunshots were fired into a house in the 100 block of Poplar Street between 11:30 and 11:45 p.m., Shelton said. Seven bullets entered the house, and four people were inside at the time.
“Thank God, nobody was hurt,” Shelton said.
Shelton said police do not have any suspect descriptions, nor are they sure if they were in a vehicle or on foot.
Shelton said he didn’t know for certain if the shootings were related, but that it was “possibly retaliatory.”
Police were previously called to the 100 block of Poplar on April 24 for a report of a reckless driver. Officers found a crashed car at the intersection of Highway 182 and Poplar. The driver, 16-year-old Harvey Montreal Johnson Jr., was wounded and died on the scene. Shelton said at the time that police believed the incident stemmed from an altercation where shots were fired into the Poplar Street house.
Tommy Flowers, 27, of Columbus, who was a passenger in Johnson’s car, was arrested and charged with possession of a stolen firearm.
Those charges were later upgraded to second-degree murder. He was also charged with three counts of attempt to commit murder, shooting into an occupied dwelling and directing a youth to commit a felony.
Shelton asked anyone with information on the case to call Golden Triangle Crime Stoppers at 800-530-7151 or use the P3 Tips smartphone app. Tips are anonymous, and there is a cash reward if they result in an arrest.
Brian Jones is the local government reporter for Columbus and Lowndes County.
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