Deputies target gang as shootings flare again in Augusta

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office is blaming gangs for much of a recent uptick in deadly shootings.

We checked in with the agency on Tuesday after three people were shot dead in three days in Augusta, the latest victims in a surge of deadly violence that’s claimed nearly 50 lives since spring on both sides of the Savannah River.

The latest shootings include:

• A shooting reported at 11:34 p.m. Monday in the 3000 block of Washington Road. Deputies say one victim died on scene and the other was taken to a hospital with injuries. The victim was Reginald Eugene Johnson, 32.
• Aiken County deputies responded to the 100 block of Spann Hammond Road when a bicyclist called 911 after finding a male shot dead around 8:08 a.m. Monday near 124 Spann Hammond Road. The victim was Deandre T. Gaiters, 27.
• At 10:23 p.m. Saturday, deputies responded to the 2200 block of Old Savannah Road to investigate a report of a shooting. Upon arrival, deputies found Tymarkus Dashawn Starkes, 20, had been shot and was dead.
• One person was fatally shot around 9:20 p.m. Saturday in the 2100 block at the end of B Street at the Lake Olmstead Homes. The victim was 22-year-old Kyan Michael Bowie, of Hephzibah.

As far as the shootings in Augusta, “the Sheriff’s Office is very cognizant of the fact that gun violence is rising around the country,” Richmond County Chief Deputy Patrick Clayton said.

He pointed out that the crime rate here compares favorably to Columbus and Macon, communities with similar populations and demographics in Georgia.

“That being said, the Richmond County citizens want to know what we are doing here?” Clayton said. “As many of these shootings are gang-related, the local gang should be very afraid.”

He said the deputies are in the midst of a large investigation that should lead to the arrests of numerous gang .

“We also anticipate due to the rise of traffic fatalities, we may increase traffic safety checks, which, always have the residual benefit of gun seizures, drug and gang arrests,” he said, adding that it could occur as soon as this weekend.

“Lastly, we will increase our operational tempo by redeploying our personnel throughout the county led by our data/intelligence,” he said.

Clayton and Sheriff Richard Roundtree noted that there’s been a major uptick in gun violence across the country. Although the agency has been able to generally reduce crime in the other major crime categories, gun violence is the least predictable, therefore, the hardest to combat.

Authorities must take a harder stance on gun violence locally and throughout the U.S., Clayton and Roundtree said.

Those who are carrying a gun illegally or during the commission of a crime should go to jail, they said, and chronic predatory offenders should go to jail and stay there.

The latest slayings are among nearly 50 victims of an outbreak of deadly crimes that’s swept the CSRA since spring. Many of the victims have been young men and teenagers.

As the largest city, Augusta has been hit especially hard, but the outbreak has touched communities large and small.

Deputies have blamed much of the violence on gangs.

The shooting at the Olmstead Homes was the second one since mid-April in the 2100 block of B Street. A shooting there just before 7:30 p.m. on April 23 claimed the life of Rodriquez Dunn, 31. Dunn suffered at least one gunshot wound and died at the scene.

Also, a fatal shooting happened earlier this year just a couple of blocks away from the weekend’s shooting on Old Savannah Road. On April 18, Johnnie Coleman was found shot dead in the 1900 block of the road.

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