A 16-year-old was killed and another teen has been arrested, SC officials say

One South Carolina teenager is dead and another is behind bars following a Tuesday shooting, according to the Richland County Sheriff’s Department.

Joshua Edmonds, a 16-year-old Columbia resident, is the victim who died in the shooting, Richland County Coroner Naida Rutherford said Wednesday. Edmonds was a student at a Lexington-Richland 5 school, district officials told The State.

Edmonds and another juvenile were targeted in a shooting in the 200 block of Aster Circle, the sheriff’s department said in a news release. That’s in a part of Columbia between Shop Road and Bluff Road, about 1.5 miles from Williams-Brice Stadium.

At about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, deputies responded to the area after receiving a ShotSpotter alert, according to the release. ShotSpotter is a technology that uses acoustic monitors to detect a sound like gunfire. The system sends the gunfire’s location to law enforcement within 45 seconds.

Bystanders told deputies that someone had been shot, and Edmonds was soon discovered, the sheriff’s department said. EMS took the teen to a local hospital where he died, according to the release.

Deputies said they quickly identified 17-year-old Paul Henry as the suspected shooter. Information about how Henry was identified as the gunman was not available.

Deputies set up a perimeter around the neighborhood and were able to locate Henry and take him into custody, the sheriff’s department said. Further investigation revealed that while walking in the neighborhood, Henry opened fire on two juvenile victims, one of them being Edmonds, according to the release.

The second victim wasn’t shot, the sheriff’s department said. No other injuries were reported.

Henry was charged as an adult with murder, attempted murder, possession of a weapon during a violent crime and possession of a firearm by a person under 18, according to the release. He was taken to the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center where he remains locked up while waiting for a bond hearing, jail records show.

The sheriff’s department said it believes the shooting was an isolated incident, but the events leading up to the gunfire and a motive are still under investigation.

Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the sheriff’s department at 803-576-3000, CrimeStoppers at 888-CRIME-SC or submit a tip online.

In the case of an emergency, always call 911.

LR5 officials said they have made grief counselors available to anyone in the school community.

This story was originally published September 24, 2025 at 12:11 PM with the headline "A 16-year-old was killed and another teen has been arrested, SC officials say."

Noah Feit

The State

803-771-8435

Noah Feit is a Real Time reporter with The State focused on breaking news, public safety and trending news. The award-winning journalist has worked for multiple newspapers since starting his career in 1999. Support my work with a digital subscription