Five shot during six weekend shootings in south Macon, Georgia

[TheFederalistWeasel]

Five shot during six weekend shootings in south Macon

By Heather Duncan and Tim Sturrock

Telegraph Staff Writers


Macon police are investigating six weekend shootings that left several people injured.

Lt. Carl Fletcher said some of the shootings appear to be related and could be retaliations. Police haven't determined what caused the shootings and haven't made any arrests.

In at least two of the shootings, witnesses said the assailants were in a Chevrolet Caprice or Impala with gray primer paint on it, according to reports.

Though the connections among the incidents are unclear, all six took place in south Macon neighborhoods within about three miles of each other.

A report to police of a seventh shooting incident sometime Saturday or Sunday remains unconfirmed.

Police reports gave the following accounts of the reported shootings:

• The first weekend shooting happened at a gas station on Bloomfield Road at 4 a.m. Saturday. A man was shot in the leg after he got into an argument with someone who was blocking the parking lot's entrance, the report said.

Another man was shot in the arm in the incident, the report said.

• In the first Sunday incident, a woman was injured in a drive-by shooting on Winifred Way about 2 a.m.

Thejuana Schofield of Beddington Avenue was sitting in her car with her daughters when a vehicle came down the road shooting. Schofield ducked down and began driving off but realized she had been shot in the leg, according to the police report.

Tamia Schofield said the shots came from a white Pontiac Grand Am that she recognized as belonging to a man she knows.

• A little before 5 a.m., Elkanah Williams, 27, of Riverside Drive, was shot while walking on West Napier Avenue, according to a police report.

Williams was hospitalized at The Medical Center of Central Georgia with an injury in the right hip, according to the police report.

Williams told police he had not been arguing with anyone. He and another man, who took him to the hospital, said they did not see the person shooting or the vehicle used.

• Police responded to another reported shooting that occurred about 7:45 a.m. Sunday, where a bystander, Betty Clyde, was hit in the shoulder at 239 Pansy Ave. and taken to the hospital.

Curtis Jackson of Poppy Avenue, who was at that home when the shooting occurred, told police he saw a 1980s-model red truck and a '80s-model white Cutlass drive by three times, shooting into his car and the house a total of 30 to 38 times.
Jackson told police he had been at a bar on Napier Avenue earlier in the evening where a man threatened to shoot up his house.

• At 8:23 a.m. Sunday, someone in a Caprice shot at three houses on Wellworth Avenue, though no one was injured, a police report said.

• And finally, witnesses said they saw people in a Chevrolet Caprice and a Nissan Pathfinder exchange gunfire in a parking lot near Houston Avenue at 7:50 p.m. Sunday night, a police report said.

Little Mogadishu

Macon for all who do not known is about 90,000 people in size, located in central GA and has a crazy old used car salesman as a Mayor who himself is currently embattled in a court fight over all things but failure to pay child support.

Go figure…

Macon has a Police force of about 450 officers, they are currently 118 short of their targeted goal, and they lose about 40 officers a month and hire about 20 a month of which 10 may finish training.

They are paid crap, the city is trying to rob the Police and Fire retirement pension plan and have cut back significantly to pay outstanding bills.

The city is so far in debt they are actively seeking a loan to catch up but no one will float them the credit.

Macon has a population which is regressing they lose an average of about 2,000 taxpayers a year but gain about 1,500 to 1,600 non taxpayers a year according to the Macon Telegraph which cited the last census statistics.

If you ever want to see a social experiment fail first hand all you have to do is pay Macon a visit.

Just recently Macon has seen over 5 confirmed arson fires in a 10 day period and 4 more which are possible arson and a brawl which shutdown the entire Colonial Mall for over an hour while Security and PD restored order.

The Colonial Mall is HUGE BTW several hundred stores under one roof.

Macon is slowly turning into a war zone.



Anyone who would venture into Macon w/o a weapon is crazy, anyone who would live there is insane!

 

[308win]

Little Mogadishu -- Etc.

Sounds like the Georgia version of Detroit. Many, many good people are voting with their feet these days and not just in Macon either.

 

[Andrew Rothman]

Wow. Macon is about 1-1/2 times the population of my rural county, and has eight times the police officers per capita (10, if they ever get up to full strength).

I guess this shows that police don't prevent crimes.

 

[Lone_Gunman]

Were all the people involved black?

 

[TheFederalistWeasel]

Were all the people involved black?

At this time they have not said if the shooters or victims were black, but those neighborhoods listed in the article are majority Black areas.

Macon has one of the highest rates of Black on Black crimes in the southeast and the city is only about 60% Black.

I can remember about 5 years ago that Macon averaged about 13 to 15 murders a year, about one a month. Last year I think Macon ended up with around 35 and this year they’re already up to 25 and the summer is just getting started.

If I were a betting man I’d say this year would end up around 50.

 

[VARifleman]

I remember staying in a sleazy motel on a rifle trip in Macon, GA. Our coach went into each room with pistol in hand to make sure no one was waiting for us. We considered ourselves lucky that we didn't get killed by thugs or by the filth in those rooms. Macon sure is an ugly place as I remember it.

 

[Zaire]

Man, I thought my town was getting bad. We have 82,000 people and only 200 police. Murders have been slow this year, but armed robberies and burglaries have been really high. 2 people were murdered in separate incidents last Friday. One was a black 27 year old mother of 6, who was caught in between a gunfight outside a nightclub. Sad that 6 kids now have no mother. The other was a white 19 y/o guy who was beat to death. Funny thing is, as the police were investigating the guys murder at the scene, a shot rang out around the corner, so all the police took off with Glock 21's & 22's drawn.

 

[P95Carry]

And I thought Macon was just a rather pleasant wine!!!

Those figures are serious! Bit like Matt - that population is about my county and half as much again - lot of folks and if the ''social experiement'' is as it sounds - this will be going a long ways further downhill yet.

Have to strike that off my list of places to visit - even armed!

 

[Gordon]

When I went to Mercer University for 2 years in the beginning of the 60's before transferring to University of Georgia, it was he most boring place in the world! It was a "dry" city(!) there was a crumbling "mill" ect. Very little crime , although I carried (at 18) a Beretta Jetfire when I rode my Royal Enfield around the country side! I did do nasty things with "Chip" Carter's fiancee in some lonely Bayou though!

 

[hightech]

Police And Crime

I guess this shows that police don't prevent crimes.

No the police do not prevent theY respond to crime . Check out Washinton DC, 9 different agencies and 8.6 per hundred thousand. and they have one of the lowest solved homicide rates in the country.

 

[hifi]

450 officers for 90,000 people huh? I live in a town on 60,000 with 89 police officers and that's too many. They're bored most of the time.

 

[Derek Zeanah]

I lived there for two years while my wife did the first 2 years of medical school. This wasn't long ago -- 7-5 years ago.

I developed the reputation as the "fat naked white guy with a gun" after I heard someone trying to break into the house and ran out after 'em wearing only a .45. Worked well -- no-one tried to break in for another 9 months or so. That wasn't because the city was a bad place though; it was because we unknowingly moved in a couple-hundred yards from a neighborhood with a number of crack-houses. Hint: revisit the neighborhood you're looking into, taking all routes in, not just the one your Realtor likes...

I don't remember it being nearly that bad, though. Yeah, the murder rate was high (higher per-capita than NYC the years I was there, I think), but it was all localized -- us white folks who didn't like to play in the ghetto were (mostly) safe. We were worried more about the registered sex offended a couple of streets over...

Sorry to hear it's gone this way.

 

[nobby]

Were all the people involved black?

No actually, they weren't. Why?

 

[RioShooter]

Drive-by's

These all appear to be drive-by shootings.

Do you think Macon might have a gang problem?

 

[grimjaw]

All sad. I had the opportunity to travel south of Macon a few times back in 1999, and I rather liked the area.

Hope they catch the BG's.

jmm

 

[kjeff50cal]

Maybe the citizens are taking the movie Macon County Line too seriously .

kjeff50cal

 

[Jeff White]

Not really on topic here, I'm moving this to General Gun Discussions...

Jeff

 

[Malamute]

Sounds like Macon has WAY more crime than the whole state of Wyoming. Their old murder rate was about Wyoming states total. Hard to imagine a single town with that much crime.

 

[Standing Wolf]

...they lose an average of about 2,000 taxpayers a year but gain about 1,500 to 1,600 non taxpayers a year...

I guess it's a good thing there's lots of free government money floating around, eh?