The shooter and deceased victim in Friday night’s shooting inside the Inferno Sports Bar had a violent history with each other that went back more than a decade, District Attorney Scott Colom told The Dispatch.
Undra Lamorris Williams, 30, is charged with murder in the fatal shooting of Devan Thompson, 33, of Columbus. Four others were injured during the shooting, according to police.
Colom confirmed Thompson had been arrested for three counts of aggravated assault following a Labor Day 2012 shooting, in which one teen was killed and Williams was wounded. Colom said a grand jury chose not to indict Thompson on the assault charges.
Officers responded to the Inferno bar, located at 2118 Hwy. 45 N., about 11:45 p.m. Friday after 911 calls about a shooting. Thompson was pronounced dead on the scene, and the other four were taken to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle by private vehicles.
Two of those victims were shot in the chest, one was grazed in the shoulder and one had a bullet fragment hit her foot, police said.
Williams turned himself in to Columbus Police Department on Saturday evening, less than four hours after Police Chief Joseph Daughtry identified and released a photo of the suspect, along with a plea for public assistance in locating him.
“After he appeared on the news and social media, a family member reached out to Williams,” Daughtry said in a press release. “He and I then began a conversation of negotiating a way for him to be taken into custody.”
Daughtry and Colom plan to release more details on the shooting during a press conference at 1 p.m. Tuesday at CPD headquarters, Colom said.
Among the issues they will address will be how Williams got the gun inside the bar, despite security guards on site checking people as they entered.
Williams is being held in Lowndes County Adult Detention Center. His first appearance in court will likely be Tuesday.
Daughtry said this was the first homicide in Columbus this year.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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