Two shot and killed in east Columbia

Columbia Police are investigating two more apparent homicides, this time on the east side of town.

Officers say they found two victims with gunshot wounds on the lawn of a home on McKee Street near Rice Road at about 3 a.m. Sunday. Officers found several shell casings. Antonio Houston, 36, and Danielle Marine, 33, were pronounced dead at a hospital.

CPD has not released any suspect information on these killings.

Five people have been shot and killed in the Columbia area since Sept. 13. Two of them were shot hours apart in the middle of town between late on Sept. 13 and early Sept. 14. As of Sept. 22, police had announced an arrest in one of those cases. Investigators are not calling the deadly shooting of a man on James Dale Road in northeast Columbia on Sept. 18 a homicide right now. Officers were responding to a reported burglary.

“Our community must work together to address this violence,” CPD chief Geoff Jones said in a news release Sunday. “I ask our community members to have the courage to speak up and help. We can’t do it alone.”