Update: Video: Suspect Charged in Columbus Shooting

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COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) — A man is behind bars and another is on the run after a drive by shooting rattled a Columbus neighborhood Monday morning.

Police say 22-year-old Christopher Armstrong of 805 10th St. N. in Columbus, has been charged with four counts of aggravated assault and one count of drive-by shooting in connection with the incident just before 11:30 a.m. Monday at a home on 6th Avenue North.

Police say two men stopped a Ford Explorer on 6th Avenue North near Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and fired at least four shots at cars in front of a house. They then fled only to crash through a brick mailbox and wreck in a yard less than a block away. The two fled on foot but officers caught the driver, later identified as Armstrong, a short distance away. The other still is on the run.

At least four adults and children were at the home when the shots were fired.

Another man also was taken into custody but later released because police think he may have been a target of the shooting.

Investigators recovered at least four small-caliber shell casings from the street. The other suspect’s name hasn’t been released.

Police say they’ve been told the shooting was in retaliation for a run in earlier today, but they haven’t been able to confirm any motive. Monday was Armstrong’s birthday and some witnesses at the scene suggested the shooting may have been part of a dispute over a girl.
Armstrong, who goes by the street name “Sweetie,” is no stranger to law enforcement. He was released from prison last fall after serving more than three years of an armed robbery sentence.