With a run-off election looming, Richmond County Sheriff Richard Roundtree, flanked by Mayor Garnett Johnson and District 1 Commissioner Jordan Johnson, held a press conference on June 8 to discuss a shooting that occurred Saturday morning around 1:13 a.m.
At the press conference, Roundtree announced that Governor Brian Kemp has agreed to offer state police assistance in patrolling downtown throughout the summer.
What is known about the early Saturday shooting is that at the tail end of the monthly “First Friday” celebration in downtown, a male subject opened fire into the crowd at the corner of 10th Street and Broad Street.
According to Roundtree, two deputies working a special event nearby heard what appeared to be a “massive amount of rounds” shot from an assault weapon. Upon arriving on the scene, the deputies returned fire, wounding the shooter.
Three people, including the shooter, were treated for non-life threatening gunshot wounds.
Roundtree did not offer any other new information, stating that the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office has turned the investigation over to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The sheriff refused to name the shooter, the type of weapon recovered or even the location of the shooting even though the location is already known.
The two deputies involved have been placed on paid administrative leave while the GBI investigates.
At first, Roundtree seemed to attempt to take credit for getting the governor involved. However, under questioning, he conceded that it was the mayor that personally called the governor and asked for his “assistance.”
According to a statement issued by the mayor’s office, Johnson specifically asked the governor for state troopers and agents from the Department of Natural Resources.
Under the direction of Gov. Kemp, both agencies were able to intervene and stop illegal street racing in Atlanta, as well as clearing out protesters camping out at the location of the new police training facility in the capital.
Local business owners and downtown residents say Broad Street is plagued by people drag racing down the strip and shooting weapons off from their cars.
Roundtree bristled when asked if getting the governor involved was a tacit admission that his agency lacked the resources to properly protect the public and insisted the streets in downtown Augusta are safe and this was a “brazen effort where someone brandished a weapon and started firing.”
“Downtown is one of the safest places in Richmond County, we (law enforcement) have a large presence down here,” Roundtree said.
A throng of business owners pushed back on Roundtree’s statements, saying that there is hardly any police presence downtown; one owner says every time he has to call law enforcement, he waits up to an hour for a response.
“Sometimes when they do show up, they just flash their blue lights and drive off,” one business owner said.
Meanwhile, Gino “Rock” Brantley, Roundtree’s opponent in the upcoming run-off election issued a statement through his campaign calling for a change “in our approach to public safety.”
“This is a crucial time. We are at the start of summer, a period historically associated with a rise in crime,” Brantley said in his statement.
Scott Hudson is the Senior Investigative Reporter and Editorial Page Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
