Food truck evicted after downtown fatal shooting

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - A food truck that draws a weekend crowd will no longer park at the spot where a shooting occurred over the weekend.

K’s Buffalo Wings has been operating at 10th and Broad streets, where it draws a late-night crowd after the downtown bars and clubs close.

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But it won’t be there anymore.

After the violence early Sunday at 10th and Broad streets, “the property owners have requested we no longer operate our food truck there,” the operators of the food truck posted Wednesday on Facebook.

“We appreciate all of your over the years in Downtown Augusta. You can still visit us at 230 Sand Bar Ferry Road and we will still be doing our weekly rounds at job sites and neighborhoods near you,” the owners wrote. “Again, thank you for all of your !”

Logan Etterle, 21, was fatally shot around 2 a.m. Sunday after a physical altercation at the site where the food truck has been operating. Keyon Smiley, 31, was arrested in the shooting of Etterle, and there’s also an arrest warrant out for another suspect, D’Andre Tandy, who is not yet in custody.

Etterle’s slaying was the first of two on Sunday morning in Augusta.

The other, at 11th Avenue and Grand Boulevard, claimed the life of Jakwan Gunter, 19, who was pronounced dead just after 4 a.m. Deputies told News 12 they believe the shooting was gang-related and that they have identified people of interest in the case.

The slayings are among several in an outbreak of violent crimes across the CSRA that’s left a trail of deaths and injuries.

The surge in violence seemed to start emerging in April when it was mostly centered in Richmond County. Then we started to see more homicides across the Savannah River in Aiken County as well as in smaller places in Georgia like Washington County.

Days into the initial outbreak, Richmond County Sheriff Richard Roundtree said he was taking “decisive action” to turn back the trend.

Blaming at least part of the problem on gangs, he said: “We have plans for selected enforcement action to target those criminals who are participating in gangs and the associated gun violence and drug trafficking.”

He said this would include “proactive teams conducting operations” in areas recently affected by gang activity and other known high-crime areas, he said. Deputies also said they’d conduct road checks in targeted areas.

Aside from Sunday morning’s shootings, homicides since April 14 in the CSRA include:

• On June 14 in the 3100 block of Wrightsboro Road, Eurl Kittles, 42, of Augusta, was shot dead at a Captain D’s restaurant. An autopsy has been scheduled at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation lab.
• On June 3 in the 100 block of Pelzer Street in Warrenville, 34-year-old Lacey Toole was shot dead by her boyfriend John Williams, who then turned the gun on himself.
• On June 2 on Summerhill Avenue, 37-year-old Yoni Vargas shot his wife, 33-year-old Rosa Salguero-Landaverde, then killed himself.
• On May 29, a shooting killed two people – 17-year-old William Mykell Lowery and 30-year-old Christopher “Scooter” Dunn – at a “Freaknik”-themed party being held at a ballpark outside Sandersville, Ga. The shooting is believed to be the result of an altercation.
• Patricia Dent, 65, was strangled to death by her boyfriend Joseph McKinnon, who then buried her body in their yard at 102 Tanglewood Drive in Trenton, authorities say. They learned of her death on May 7 after finding McKinnon dead of a heart attack he suffered while burying Dent.
• A 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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