The St. Joseph Police Department held a press conference Thursday morning to confirm that a man wanted in a murder case has surrendered to authorities in Columbia.

“His arrest took place without incident, he surrendered himself peacefully,” said Capt. Jeff Wilson with the St. Joseph Police Department.

Charles Leroy Coats Jr., 32 of St. Joseph was charged Tuesday with second-degree murder in connection with the Saturday shooting death of Jason Ginn, 32 of St. Joseph.  Coats surrendered to officers in Columbia, Mo. about three hours away from St. Joseph around 11 p.m. Wednesday.

Police have been searching for him since he became a person of interest shortly after the shooting took place.

“The St. Joseph Police Department has spent upwards of around several hundred man hours working on this case,” Wilson said. “Running down and investigating over 100 leads, mostly of which were generated by members of our community.”

Due to leads from the public Wilson said Columbia had been narrowed down as a place of interest in Coats whereabouts.

“We are happy the suspect is in custody, the case is not concluded.  There’s a lot of work left to be done in cases like this,” Wilson said. “But having a violent offender off the streets definitely is a positive thing for us.”

Wilson said police will be making arrangements for Coats to be transported back to St. Joseph.