3 sought for questioning about shooting outside downtown bar

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Authorities want to question three men in connection with a shooting incident last month in front of a downtown Augusta bar.

The shooting happened around 3 a.m. April 23 at Broad Street and 11th Street.

The victim said she was sitting in her car in front of the bar when she heard multiple gunshots. She quickly leaned toward her enger window and ducked down to avoid being shot. Two bullets entered her car through the windshield and driver’s side window, according to deputies.

The victim said she quickly sped off to get away from the gunfire, but was treated for a cut to her left wrist from broken glass.

Deputies found bullet holes in the victim’s car as well as a glass roll-up door of the Mellow Mushroom restaurant and the hood of a nearby vehicle.

Deputies are look for information about these three men:

Anyone with information about the men is urged to Investigator Stephen Brown at 706-821-4848 or any on-duty investigator at the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, 706-821-1020 or 706-821-1080.

The shooting came during an uptick in crime across the CSRA – one that’s caused several injuries and deaths. Some of the crimes, like the one outside Garden City Social, have involved victims in vehicles, including:

• On Wednesday, a shooting injured a driver in the 1800 block of Jefferson Davis Highway in Aiken County. The driver was able to call 911 and report the incident. She was taken to an Augusta hospital
• On May 3, Charles L. Bradley, 49, of Aiken, was shot dead while in a car at Hampton Avenue and Assembly Street. That shooting was among a string of them that night in Aiken, although the other shootings didn’t hurt anyone.
• On April 29, gunfire broke out during a road rage incident in North Augusta on Knox Avenue near Martintown Road. Another driver began yelling at the victim and brandished a handgun, shooting shot one time into the victim’s vehicle. The victim suffered a minor cut to his right ear.

TACKLING LOCAL CRIME:

• What are deputies doing about Augusta’s deadly crime rate?
• ‘It’s senseless’: City leaders, residents react to recent crime surge
• Despite surge, data reveals overall crime is down in Augusta
• Groups working together to cut Augusta’s violent crime

In addition to the May 3 shooting, other deadly crimes in the CSRA since April 14 include:

• On May 7, the body of Joseph McKinnon, 60, was found at 102 Tanglewood Drive in Trenton. Authorities determined he’d died of a heart attack after strangling and burying his girlfriend, Patricia Dent, 65, in the yard.
• Shooting just before 7:30 p.m. on April 23 claimed the life of Rodriquez Dunn, 31, at the Olmstead Homes in the 2100 block of B Street in Augusta. Dunn suffered at least one gunshot wound and died at the scene.
• On April 19, Brittany Dougherty was found slain outside a vacant home in the 1500 block of Conklin Lane. Her death was considered suspicious from the start, but within hours the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office ruled her death a homicide.
• On April 18, Johnnie Coleman was found shot dead in the 1900 block of Old Savannah Road. Authorities released a photo of a car suspected to have been linked to that slaying. Kelvin Lewis, 33, has been arrested as a suspect in the murders of Coleman and Dougherty.
• Jenefer Holt Herron, 52, of Augusta, died late April 18 after being shot during an argument outside the Circle K at 1739 Walton Way in Augusta. Suspect Yelena Buckner, 33, of Augusta, was later found and arrested on charges of murder and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime, deputies reported.
• JaJuan Russell, 21, of Augusta, was fatally shot early April 17 in the 3700 block of Oslo Road in Augusta. Russell was taken to Augusta University Medical Center.
• Sandersville police found the body of a man on April 16 inside a home on Gwendolyn Street while responding to a report of a domestic dispute at the address. Santavious Louis Roberts, 35, of Sandersville, was arrested.
• Brandon Peebles, 24, of Girard, was shot around 10:45 p.m. on April 14 in the 2300 block of Prague Court. He was pronounced dead at 11:23 p.m.

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