Mall murders rattled Columbia — but State’s Attorney says HoCo is still safe

Howard County’s State’s Attorney Rich Gibson Jr. doesn’t sugarcoat it. The three murders at the Columbia Mall last year rattled the community. A double-homicide outside and a killing inside the food court doubled the county’s yearly homicide total to 10. For a place with historically low crime rates, that number felt jarring. But Gibson insists Howard County is still safe — “extraordinarily safe,” in fact, by the numbers. The longtime prosecutor, who cut his teeth in Baltimore’s homicide unit, says overall crime is trending down, even as the crimes involving young people have become more violent and more visible. That disconnect — statistics versus public perception — is something Gibson wrestles with daily. “A single crime is too much crime,” he says, while also reminding residents that mall shootings were targeted disputes, not random violence. Now in his second term and planning to run again, Gibson calls the job “immensely rewarding.” He leads 95 staff with a $14 million budget, shaping justice in a county of 330,000 people. His biggest focus going forward? Tackling youth crime before it escalates — and proving to residents that Howard County can remain both statistically safe and emotionally secure.