Sheriff says culture of violence is cyclical in Richmond County
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Sheriff Roundtree says the culture of violence in these areas is changing. It’s all connected.
On Monday, he talked about an overall generational trend, but now he shares the connections of it all.
“You know we can kind of get a grasp on it because we have a reason behind it. There’s an underlying nexus to why these things happen,” he said.
Roundtree says almost all of these crimes are connected to gangs, drugs, and/or guns.
A wave of shootings
Among the latest violence was a shooting early Sunday at Club 706, 2632 Deans Bridge Road, that injured three people and left one dead.
That happened two days after a Johndrick Oliphant, 19, was found shot dead in the middle of the 4200 block of Stone Road.
The year had a violent start, with an injury shooting in a domestic disturbance on New Year’s Eve on Ramsgate Road near Wheeler and Aumond Road.
Then on Jan. 8, Arbrie Anthony, 8, was shot and killed in her front yard during a drive-by shooting. Suspect Antoine Redfield has been arrested in connection with the case.
The following day, at 1:04 a.m., two people shot in their car at Gordon Highway and Wilkinson Road. There were no serious injuries.
The next evening, two men were shot on Fenwick Street, one of those was serious.
Then there was a four-day lull until a double homicide on Hammond Avenue near Peach Orchard Road. Two women were shot and killed, and a third was taken to the hospital.
Almost 10 days later, there was an aggravated assault and armed robbery on Gordon Highway near North Leg Road. On Jan. 23, suspect Brian Moss was considered wanted, armed and dangerous.
Commissioner Dennis Williams, who’s seen much of this crime happen in his district, says these actions are hard to prevent.
“Take into consideration that these are things that, the type of violence that we’re having is not well thought out violence its reaction violence in my opinion. The nature of the crimes that we have now is different than it used to be years ago,” he said.
A culture that’s changing.
“Now we have a culture of violent offenders who have perpetrated violence and now violence is stemming back to that individual,” said Roundtree.
He says 19-year-old Johndrick Oliphant was part of that culture.
“He had active murder warrant on him. We were closing in on him for the murder that was committed back in December. Even though he was deceased in this particular case, drugs and a weapon was found on him. That is a cultural lifestyle that very well probably led or contributed to his early demise,” he said.
They say can’t do this without you. RCSO wants to emphasize Augusta overall is not a dangerous place to live, and Roundtree says they’re using all of their resources to keep us safe.
Williams said: “Something that we have to play by year and hopefully is encouraging to the community and get them to be more involved.”
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