Pregnant woman killed in crash with Columbia police officer responding to murder suspect chase
A woman who was some seven months pregnant was killed in a crash with a Columbia police officer who was involved in pursuing the suspect in a fatal shooting Monday afternoon.
Ashley Brown, 34, was identified Tuesday by the Richland County Coroner’s Office as the victim of the crash with the police cruiser on North Main Street. Brown’s fetus also died as a result of the crash.
“As a parent, I can’t imagine the extent of the pain her family is going through right now, and I can only say I’m so sorry,” Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook said Tuesday afternoon at a news conference where he described details about the crash and the fatal shooting at the start of a tragic chain of events. “There’s no other way to describe yesterday other than tragic.”
The fateful crash happened less than 10 minutes after a shooting at a Columbia car dealership that claimed the life of another person, 39-year-old Graham Pope.
On Tuesday, Holbrook detailed the deadly timeline:
At 3:04 p.m. Monday, Columbia police first received a call reporting a shooting at JT’s Kia on Greystone Boulevard.
At 3:08 p.m., officers arrived at the car dealership to find Pope sitting in a car, shot multiple times. Pope was taken to a hospital, where he later died. Witnesses at the scene provided a detailed description of the shooting suspect’s vehicle, a gray Ford Mustang.
At 3:10 p.m., a Columbia police officer on River Drive, not too far from the scene of the shooting, spotted the suspect’s vehicle. The officer turned on their lights and sirens and initiated a traffic stop, but the suspect did not comply. Instead, the suspect accelerated and fled toward North Main Street.
Police dispatchers immediately broadcast a call for assistance.
In response to the call for assistance, Columbia Police Officer Darian Davis immediately began driving from his location on North Main Street toward River Drive.
Less than one minute and 0.3 miles later, Davis collided with Brown, who was driving a Toyota sedan. A third vehicle crashed into the original collision. In addition to Brown’s fatal injuries, Davis and the driver of the third vehicle were both injured as well. Davis underwent surgery Tuesday and remained hospitalized, while the third driver was treated and released from the hospital Monday, Holbrook said.
Meanwhile, the shooting suspect fled miles away, over the course of eight minutes, with police in pursuit.
At 3:16 p.m., the suspect turned onto Shady Lane, in the Lake Katherine area.
At 3:18 p.m. the suspect turned into a private driveway, drove into the woodline, and ran from his vehicle.
Police chased the suspect and arrested him, finding two guns and ammunition in his possession.
The suspect has been identified as 28-year-old Westley Gross, who Holbrook said was out on bond for other charges at the time of this event. Gross is charged with murder, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, and failure to stop for police.
S.C. Highway Patrol is investigating the officer-involved collision, while the Columbia Police Department will conduct a further internal investigation into whether its policies were followed, Holbrook said.
“Again, I’m really at a loss of what I could even begin to say to the family of Ms. Brown,” Holbrook said. “We strive for perfection and we train for perfection in an imperfect world. I know what these officers go through every day in service to their community. I know the work they do to save lives. I know the value they put on the sanctity of life, and I can tell you that there is never a time that we would ever invoke an ill intent to harm somebody.
“It’s just a tragic situation.”
This is a breaking news story and will be updated with further details.
