A Columbus woman was shot in the back Friday night in south Columbus.
Mary Ann Beard, 59, of 156 Pandora Drive, was eating in the home her sister-in-law Samella Beard at 448 Burgundy Drive, near Omnova Solutions Inc., with several women around 8 p.m. when a passing car fired approximately eight shots from a 9 mm pistol.
One of the bullets passed through the garage and into the kitchen where it struck Mary Beard.
A man sitting in the living room of the home witnessed a small dark-colored car, possibly a Mazda, leave the scene.
Upon arrival, Columbus police found Beard on the floor with another female holding a towel over her lower back. She was transferred to Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle where she is reportedly in stable condition. A relative of Beard”s reported she may have been released Saturday.
Columbus Police Department Information Officer Terrie Songer reported Beard may have been grazed by the bullet.
Neighbors with homes around the cul-de-sac where the shooting occurred reported hearing multiple shots in rapid succession. Those who recognized the sounds as gunshots got low to avoid stray bullets. Others mistook the sound for firecrackers and looked outside, but missed the suspect car.
“It sounded like firecrackers. I ran over there to see if everything was all right,” said Derwin Sumivelle, who lives across from Samella Beard”s home.
Chief Joseph St. John confirmed officers were on the lookout for a car but could not confirm additional details Friday night except that the shots appeared to have been fired from outside the house. Several forensic markers, showing where some of the shots were fired from, were placed on the street near the mailbox in front of the house.
“We”re still putting the pieces together,” he said after surveying the crime scene.
As of Saturday, police had not identified a motive for the shooting.
While en route to Burgundy Drive following the shooting call, Officer Chris Benton was involved in a wreck with an unknown driver who fled the scene on foot.
Benton, a first-year officer, was driving with his blue lights and siren activated when the front of his vehicle struck the side of another vehicle at the intersection of Seventh Avenue South and Eighth Street South.
Benton was not seriously injured but was taken to Baptist Memorial Hospital for evaluation and treatment. The Lowndes County Sheriff”s Office is investigating the accident.
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