A man wanted in connection with a shooting that hit a school bus turned himself in to police Friday.
Marteze Meeks, 18, of Columbus, faces 11 counts of aggravated assault, according to a press release from the Columbus Police Department. Meeks is accused of accidentally shooting a bus that contained 10 children and a bus driver, the release said.
Meeks and Enry Meadows, also 18, were shot at on Nov. 18 by occupants of a dark-colored Dodge Charger driving north on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive while they were at a residence on the street’s 1500 block, across from the Columbus Housing Authority, CPD Chief Joseph Daughtry told The Dispatch that day. Meeks and Meadows returned fire, hitting the right front tire of a Columbus Municipal School District bus dropping off children nearby.
Meadows was hit in the exchange and was taken to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle for non-life-threatening injuries. While Meadows has not yet been released from the hospital and has not been charged yet, Daughtry told The Dispatch Monday that he faces the same charges as Meeks.
Police also arrested Meeks’ mother, Cassandra Perry, 53, Wednesday as an accessory to the crime after the fact. Daughtry told The Dispatch that Perry attempted to cover up her son’s involvement in the crime, leading to the charge.
Daughtry told The Dispatch Monday that his department is still investigating the case and working to apprehend the shooters who were in the Dodge Charger.
While Chief Joseph Daughtry initially said Meeks’ first name was Martus, a Wednesday press release from CPD later identified him as Marteze Meeks.
Meeks and Meadows were previously arrested on weapon possession charges following a shooting in July at the 1600 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. While both were 17 at the time, each was charged with possessing a firearm while out on felony bond and Meeks was charged with two counts of possession of a stolen firearm.
At the time of the July arrest, Meadows was out on bond on a murder charge for the November 2023 shooting death of Labronze Moore, 17, at the victim’s home on North McCrary Road in East Columbus. He is one of six facing a murder charge in that case.
A grand jury had also indicted Meeks on two aggravated assault charges in Lowndes County, CPD Public Information Officer Bryan Moore told The Dispatch in July.
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