Guns seized during robbery investigation lead Howard County police to wanted homicide suspects
HOWARD COUNTYy, Md. - A robbery investigation led police in Howard County to the discovery of multiple illegal guns, one of which was determined to be the weapon used in a deadly triple shooting last month.
Howard County Police Chief Gregory Der announced the arrest of two suspects in the October homicide and said several other arrests were also made as a result of their investigation.
"Today’s announcement is a demonstration of the commitment, creativity, strategic thinking, and resource-sharing among our investigative team," Der said Tuesday. "As a result of these resources, cases like these can be linked and investigated as a shared effort to solve violent crimes and arrest those responsible."
The investigation began back in July, after a juvenile male reported that he had been robbed by two men on Melba Road in Ellicott City, who pulled out a gun before running off with the boy’s belongings.
On Oct. 19, detectives searched multiple locations in Columbia in connection to the robbery and found numerous illegal weapons. Police say they arrested three teens and one adult during the search and seized multiple guns, including several privately made firearms or "ghost guns."
Those arrests and charges are as follows:
- Male, 16, of Columbia, possession of unregulated Privately Made Firearms
- Male, 17, of Columbia, robbery, assault, illegal possession of multiple firearms
- Male 17, of Columbia, robbery, assault, possession of unregulated Privately Made Firearms
- Kevin Mobley, 46, of Columbia, illegal possession of multiple firearms, released on $50,000 bond
Police were then able to link one of the guns to a deadly triple shooting in Columbia that was still under investigation.
Just before 10 p.m. on Oct. 16, officers were called to an Exxon gas station in the 6000 block of Foreland Garth for a report of gunshots. There, they found a 30-year-old man with a gunshot wound. He was flown to Shock Trauma in Baltimore where he was treated and has been released.
Then around 10:15 p.m., police say two men walked into Howard County General Hospital’s Emergency Room with gunshot wounds. One victim, 24-year-old Dylan Migel Perez of Baltimore, died shortly after he arrived. The second victim, a 22-year-old, was treated for his injuries and released.
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1 killed, 2 wounded in shooting outside gas station in Columbia; $5,000 reward offered in case
A man was killed, and two others were wounded in a shooting Monday outside a gas station in Howard County.
Detectives were able to confirm that one of those ghost guns they recovered just days later had been used in the shooting and through further investigation, they identified 18-year-old Shamond Isiah Steward and a 17-year-old, whose identity is being withheld, as the suspects in the case.
Both have been charged with first and second-degree murder, first-degree assault and firearms charges
"These two cases are a perfect example of our office working in lockstep with the Howard County Police Department to fight violent crime," State’s Attorney Rich Gibson said in a statement. "Although these alleged defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty, it is our goal to effectively marshal the evidence presented to us and hold those involved accountable."
"By combining investigative expertise in our violent crime, robbery, firearms, property crimes, and drug units, we are able to look at these cases through a wider lens. We are now one step closer to holding these suspects accountable and providing some closure on crimes that have disturbed our community," Howard County Executive Calvin Ball added.