It was a violent weekend in Columbia. One man is dead after a gunfight near the White Castle restaurant on Clark Lane Friday afternoon. Then early Sunday morning night gunfire broke out during a fight at large party in the parking lot of the Imperial Coffee House and Lounge on Paris Road. Two men were shot and taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Just later Sunday morning shots were fired during another large disturbance downtown at 9th and Broadway. A female passenger in a vehicle was struck by gunfire and taken to the hospital with injuries that were not life threatening.
The Friday afternoon incident at White Castle was between two men shooting at each other. Police were called about 12:30 p.m. Upon arrival, police found one man who had been shot. 56-year-old Louis W. Hart of Columbia was taken by ambulance to the hospital where he later died. A second man who police have not identified was also struck by gunfire. He was taken to the hospital in a personal vehicle.
The incident on Paris Road near the Imperial about 1:40 a.m. was described by police as a large physical disturbance involving multiple people armed with firearms and shots being fired. City police were assisted by officers from Ashland, the Boone County Sheriff and the state Highway Patrol. The two men with gunshot wounds were not identified and that investigation is continuing.
The downtown disturbance started about 2 a.m. between another large group of people. About 3 a.m. the gunfire broke out. The adult female who was hit has not identified by police. Three people were arrested. That investigation also continues.