22-year-old man killed in shooting, another victim hospitalized, South Carolina police say

A South Carolina man was killed and another injured in a shooting Tuesday night, according to Forest Acres police.

The Richland County Coroner’s Office said the deceased victim was 22-year-old Mekhi Courtney of Columbia, police said in a news release Wednesday.

Forest Acres police were notified by the Columbia Police Department around 8 p.m. Tuesday that two men who had been shot had been taken to an area hospital, the news release said. Columbia police said the victims were shot in the parking lot of The Landings apartment complex – which falls under the jurisdiction of the Forest Acres Police Department.

Courtney died at the hospital, according to the news release. The other victim, a Lexington resident, is still recovering at the hospital, Forest Acres police said. Further information on the Lexington man’s condition was not available.

No further injuries were reported.

Officers from the Forest Acres and Columbia police departments were en route to The Landings and found evidence of a shooting in a parking lot, the release said. The complex is located at 3431 Covenant Road in the Forest Acres neighborhood of Columbia.

Neighbors reported to officers that they heard a noise shortly after 7 p.m., but Forest Acres police said they did not receive any 911 calls from neighbors, witnesses or the two victims about the incident.

None of the men lived in the complex or at Forest Acres, the news release said. Information about what the victims were doing in the apartment complex was not available.

There was no information on a shooter(s) or other persons involved in the shooting. Information on a possible motive for the shooting was not available.

No arrests have been reported, but police are continuing their investigation.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call CrimeStoppers at 888-CRIME-SC or submit a tip online.

This is not the first time a fatal shooting has occurred in this apartment complex.

In January 2023, a woman shot and killed an unknown man who entered her apartment, Forest Acres police said.

The Landings at Forest Acres is the same apartment complex where a Columbia man was shot and found behind the wheel of a car in February 2022, police said. This was the first homicide in Forest Acres since the shooting death of Officer Greg Alia on Sept. 30, 2015, police said at the time.