Shootings shatter peace in Columbia community

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141 days ago: Howard County cops seek suspects in 2 shootings, one fatal

Howard County (Map, News) - Bernadette Allen moved to Columbia for peace, quiet and, most of all, safety.

“I moved here to get away from the crime and give my kids a better chance,” said Allen, 54, who moved two years ago from Yonkers, N.Y., to Stevens Forest Apartments in the 5800 block of Stevens Forest Road in Oakland Mills.

Now she’s not so sure she made the right move after two shootings, one fatal, in the community over the weekend.

“This is too close for comfort,” she said. “We need to nip this in the bud.”

She had seen violence at the subsidized apartment complex before: Her son was stabbed on the stairs about six months after moving in, she said, by a man angry that he wouldn’t join a gang.

“Gangs,” she said, “are getting really bad here.”

Jason Batts, 23, of Columbia, was shot to death about 2:50 a.m. Saturday in the parking lot of Stevens Forest Apartments, Howard police said.

The next morning, Wayne Hamlin, 24, of Columbia, was shot in the shoulder during a group dispute at 1:12 a.m. Sunday a few miles away in the 5800 block of Thunder Hill Road, police said.

Karen Gray, newly elected chair of Oakland Mills Village Board, said the community wants a meeting with police.

“We’d like to find out what the police can do, what the community can do, if this was just a coincidence or if there’s something that needs to be addressed,” Gray said.

Shocked residents milled around Stevens Forest Apartments on Sunday as police cars rolled through.

Allen said security is limited to one guard doing occasional rounds.

Tanee Lott, 26, said she watched from her window Saturday as Batts stumbled out of an SUV and collapsed into the shrubbery. A woman was crying over Batts and screaming, “He’s dying!” Lott said.

The shooter, one of several masked men, fired a shotgun through the back window of the SUV and then came around to the side and fired again, Lott said.

Batts was still alive when police arrived about 30 minutes later, Lott and other residents said, but by the time the ambulance pulled in, he was dead.

Howard police did not return calls Saturday or Sunday.

Lott said she saw officers recover part of a shotgun at the scene.

“Sometimes safety is not a choice,” said a 59-year-old resident who declined to give her name.

“I’ve been here 20 years. I can’t work and I’m low-income, so this is what I have to live with. We just pray to the Lord to keep us safe.”

cpeirce@baltimoreexaminer.com

Staff Writer Matthew Santoni contributed to this story.

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141 days ago: Howard County cops seek suspects in 2 shootings, one fatal