Barbershop shooting leaves two dead and a community heartbroken
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - An Augusta barbershop is covered in crime tape as investigators piece together what led to the double homicide found inside.
“Everybody, the first thing they say, ‘Is this a joke?’” Marcus Owens said. “I wish it was a joke, too.”
Owens re his last conversation with his friend Wyman Scott because it was only less than two hours before police found the 34-year-old’s body in a barbershop on Eve Street.
“I had talked to him at 12:30. He sent his last text message to me at 12:37,” Owens said. “Wyman really was a great person a really solid friend. There are so many people that loved him reaching out. So many people are in disbelief.”
Families in the area tell us Wyman was a customer at Johnson’s Beauty and Barber Salon, and was just looking to get his hair done for the holidays.
It’s why Meguel Freeman took clients for that day. Normally, the shop is closed on Monday. But for the holiday season, Freeman opened to help groom for Thanksgiving gatherings. He was also found dead in the barbershop.
“This Monday, I just kind of wish he never came. He might still be alive if he hadn’t come down here,” neighbor Claude Jones said.
Jones lives next to the barbershop. The 48-year-old was both Jones’ neighbor and friend.
“He was a dad, he was a grandad,” Jones said. “It’s hurtful, and I know all of them are hurting really bad. I know they are.”
Richmond County investigators knocked on doors this morning, searching for answers, and loved ones don’t know how much longer they can go without them.
The sheriff’s office has not confirmed if the shooting was targeted or a random crime. But deputies say the shop was not a problem place of business.
Those in the community describe the shop as a peaceful staple in Harrisburg.
“It could have been any one of us around here. It’s getting dangerous out here, especially in this neighborhood,” Jones said.
For those coming and going by the shop, paying tributes and respect, they say this season supposed to be filled with holidays is now filled with heartbreak.
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