In the early morning hours of Sunday, September 21, 2025, a burst of gunfire on Mellowood Drive in Columbia, South Carolina, abruptly ended the life of 34-year-old Ricky J Bates. Deputies from the Richland County Sheriff's Department were dispatched to the 4300 block of the street shortly before 2 a.m. after receiving a ShotSpotter alert.
Upon their arrival, they discovered a man outside a residence with a gunshot wound to his upper body. As they secured the area and searched for evidence
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