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Shootings rocked three southern cities

Gillberg
Shootings rocked three southern cities

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A high school. A courthouse. A busy street with bars and restaurants.

Gun violence has left nine people dead and more than two dozen injured in three southern cities in recent weeks, devastating communities and leaving residents searching for answers and struggling to regain a sense of normalcy.

The shootings – one that left two students and two teachers dead at a Georgia high school, another that authorities believe was a targeted attack that left four people dead in Birmingham, Alabama, and a third that left a Kentucky judge dead in his office – caught their communities completely off guard and drew national attention.

Classes resumed at Apalachee High School in Winder, Georgia, on Tuesday, and students returned to classrooms where weeks earlier they had taken cover to protect a classmate now accused of murder. In Birmingham, life returned to the neighborhood this week despite increased police presence.

For college student Mia Kerikas, the entertainment district where the shooting took place was “just a nice place to be, no matter what time of day you’re here.” Then the unthinkable happened. “It’s so sad,” Kerikas told the Montgomery Advertiser, part of the USA TODAY Network, “that something like this happens to people who just wanted to get together and have fun.”

Birmingham shocked after targeted shooting leaves four dead

A memorial of flowers, a candle and a stuffed animal at the crime scene in Birmingham, as well as an increased police presence, serve as a tragic reminder of the weekend’s violence.

Four people were killed and 17 injured, some seriously, in a shooting on Saturday night in the popular Five Points South neighborhood. Truman Fitzgerald, spokesman for the Birmingham Police Department, did not provide any information about the condition of the victims via email on Tuesday. The four dead were identified as Anitra Holloman (21), Tahj Booker (27), Carlos McCain (27) and Roderick Lynn Patterson Jr. (26).

Police believe the shooting was a “set-up” by several suspects who opened fire with more than 100 bullets after driving into the area in a vehicle around 11 p.m. Saturday. Investigators were still working to identify the shooters Monday, and Fitzgerald said there was no update Tuesday.

The police had previously stated that the actual target of the shooting was among the dead. Several victims were innocent bystanders.

With a $100,000 reward, authorities hope to elicit information from the public that will lead to answers and arrests.

“We should not provide any kind of safe haven to anyone who has no problem hurting people the way he did last Saturday,” Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said Tuesday.

The shooting has shaken survivors and the community. Woodfin said Monday that one victim was celebrating a birthday when the shooting began. The mother of another victim has asked for counseling options for her daughter, the mayor said.

“Incidents of this nature, this mass shooting, are a heavy burden on the entire community … nothing is worse than the emotional and physical pain of these victims,” ​​he said, adding: “If there was ever a time for us to come together as a community, now is the moment.”

A witness to the aftermath, Dajon Singleton, told WBMA-TV over the weekend that it was a chaotic scene, with people running and screaming while others were being carried away on stretchers.

“Very devastating, sad,” he said. “These mournful cries. … I knew immediately that someone had lost a loved one.”

Kentucky sheriff charged with judge murder, awaits court date

A Kentucky county’s criminal justice system came to a halt when the sheriff was accused of shooting the county’s only judge in his office at the courthouse in Whitesburg on Thursday. The shooting has stunned community members because the two were longtime friends and a motive has not yet been made public.

Letcher County Sheriff Shawn M. Stines is scheduled to appear virtually in court Wednesday. Stines is charged with first-degree murder for the shooting death of District Judge Kevin Mullins.

A memorial service for Mullins was held over the weekend in nearby Jenkins, attended by family, friends and hundreds of attendees.

Stines was questioned for several hours Monday as a defendant in a 2022 lawsuit, the Louisville Courier Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported. The lawsuit accused a former deputy sheriff of offering a woman in Mullins’ office “preferential treatment in exchange for sexual favors.” Stines himself was not accused of exchanging sex for favors, and Mullins was not charged or accused of wrongdoing by the officers.

Weeks after school massacre, students in Georgia return to school

Classes resumed at Apalachee High School on Tuesday, nearly three weeks after a 14-year-old student opened fire, killing two students and two teachers, according to police. The school is taking a “phased resumption” approach and students will attend classes only half-day until Oct. 4, when fall break begins, “to help them re-acclimate to routine at a comfortable pace.” Apalachee will return to full-day classes in mid-October.

As students entered campus on Tuesday morning, they saw police patrol cars and a school bus with the words “CHEE STRONG” painted on the windows outside the school’s main entrance, CNN reported.

“As we return to school, you will notice an increased police presence as well as additional counselors, therapy dogs and other mental health resources to support you,” Apalachee Schools Superintendent Jessica Rehberg and Barrow County School System Superintendent Dallas LeDuff said in a message to the school community.

J Hall, where police say Colt Gray went on a rampage on September 4, will remain closed for the rest of the school year, school officials said. Students who take social studies classes there will be temporarily bused to other school campuses until new classrooms are set up in January.

Gray was charged with murder for killing students Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo, both 14, and teachers Ricky Aspinwall, 39, and Cristina Irimie, 53. Eight other students and one teacher were injured. Gray’s father, Colin Gray, is also charged with manslaughter, first-degree murder and child abuse.

In addition, students and teachers met on Monday for an open day before classes began.

“We know that these first steps have not been easy and hope that students, families and staff have found some comfort together,” the statement said.

One Apalachee student, junior Garcia Ramirez, told the Associated Press that the open house helped him adjust to school again. Ramirez had a close relationship with Aspinwall, who was also a football coach at the school.

“I don’t want to go back because it’s my last year and things are a little tough for me,” Ramirez said.

Contributors: Christopher Cann and John Bacon, USA TODAY; Marty Roney, The Montgomery Advertiser; Lucas Aulbach and Leo Bertucci, the Louisville Courier Journal

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