Lexington County man arrested for shooting acquaintance, Columbia police say
A Lexington County man was arrested on multiple charges after shooting an acquaintance, the Columbia Police Department said.
Matthew Byrd was taken into custody May 12, two weeks after the shooting, police said in a news release.
The 32-year-old West Columbia resident was charged with attempted murder and possession of a weapon during a violent crime, Richland County court records show.
The shooting happened at a home on Brennen Road on April 28, according to the release. That’s in the Devine Street area, not far from Lake Katherine. Byrd was arguing with a male acquaintance when he fired the gun, police said.
Information on the shooting victim’s condition was not available.
There was no word what the men were arguing about.
Police officers and members of the U.S. Marshals Carolinas Regional Fugitive Task Force tracked Byrd down at a home in Cayce.
Byrd was taken to the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center in Richland County where he remains behind bars after bond was denied, jail records show.
Byrd is scheduled to return to court on June 24, according to judicial records.
This is not the first time Byrd has been arrested. In May 2014, he was taken into custody on a first-degree harassment charge that was dismissed in September 2017, court records show.
In November 2019, Byrd was arrested on a weapons charge for pointing and presenting firearms at a person, but in December 2021 it was determined the charge would not be prosecuted, Lexington County court records show.
In April 2016, Byrd was charged with resisting arrest but eventually pleaded guilty to a count of disorderly conduct that December, according to Lexington County court records.
In 2017, Byrd avoided a 10-day jail sentence by paying a $105 fine for a watercraft violation following an arrest by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, Lexington County court records show.
Byrd also avoided a 20-day jail sentence when he paid a $440 fine after he was convicted on a reckless driving (103 mph) charge in 2007, according to Richland County court records.
