Boy, 7, killed by gunshots fired into Columbia home

COLUMBIA (AP) — A 7-year-old boy was killed and his 13-year-old sister hurt after more than a dozen shots were fired into their South Carolina home where they were staying with their mother and grandmother, authorities said.
Investigators haven't figured out why the Wednesday night shooting happened at the home near Columbia College or who was being targeted, Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook said.
The chief said he was furious and deeply saddened by the shooting. Along with the two women, there were seven children in the home.
"If the murder of a 7-year-old does not put a lump in your throat, tear at your heart, I don't know what will," Holbrook said at a news conference where he was joined by the capital city's mayor, city manager and several city council members.
Knowledge Simms was shot in the upper body and died at the hospital, Richland County Coroner Gary Watts said.
His sister was hit in the arm, had surgery and is alert, Holbrook said.
Investigators found more than a dozen shell casings from two different weapons outside the home, Holbrook said.
"Help us bring the people responsible for this cowardly act to justice," Holbrook said, requesting people give investigators any information they have. "We asking, appealing to your heart to do whats right."