SAVANNAH, Ga. () — A Chatham County Commissioner is urging action against what he sees as an ongoing gang violence issue following a shooting at the Oglethorpe Mall.
“Unless we address the problem directly and identify it, we will never find a solution,” stated District 7 Chatham County Commissioner Dean Kicklighter.
The Savannah Police Department is still investigating, and no one has been officially charged.
SPD announced an intent to charge two juveniles in connection to the case on Thursday.
“Savannah, Georgia has a gang problem, regardless of whether yesterday’s terrible incident technically falls under gang violence,” Kicklighter asserted.
Wednesday night, Savannah Police Chief Lenny Gunther aimed to reassure citizens.
“I want to make it very clear this was not an active shooter. The information we have right now is two groups that appear to be known to each other, and at that time, they started shooting at each other,” he said.
Although, many who were inside the mall at the time of shooting still said they were shaken up the next day.
“It was a scary incident. I just think that with that being said, you’re a little bit traumatized afterwards. Once the adrenaline runs down, it’s like a replay of that,” Alaysia Stokes, who was working inside the mall at the time of shooting said. “You’re thinking about doing your job, but at like what cost? At what point will this be another incident? Your kind of like does anyone else feel like they were protected?”
By Thursday afternoon, Kicklighter had penned a social media post that now has hundreds of comments, likes, and shares.
“Call it what it is. Two groups of people shooting at each other, most definitions would qualify as gangs,” he said. “After listening and watching for years now, blame maybe being possibly shifted in the wrong directions. I felt that I had to use my platform that was given to me by the people when they voted me in to point out what I believe is the problem we have here.”
In response, Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said in a statement, “We don’t deal with hearsay from anyone not directly involved in the investigation. Therefore, we will do the responsible thing and wait until the facts are known and call it what it is.”
