Members of North Augusta City Council will be asked at their April 4 meeting to approve new equipment inside public safety vehicles.
The modifications are in response to the December 2021 shootout on Georgia Avenue that injured one officer.
Administrator Jim Clifford briefed council members during a March 28 study session on a resolution asking for approval to spend $30,000 for rifle rack attachments to mount inside the vehicles.
Clifford said the need for the mounts inside the vehicle came to light on Dec. 9, 2021, when officers tried to stop a suspicious vehicle but the driver, Thomas Airington, 42 of Clarks Hill, S.C., fled, first causing an accident at Martintown Road and Georgia Avenue then continuing down Georgia Avenue. He stopped near the intersection with Buena Vista Avenue, exited his truck and opened fire.
“Ultimately, the officer involved had to exit his vehicle under fire, move to the back of the Chevy Tahoe, open up the back of the Chevy Tahoe and get into a lock compartment for him to get his long gun out in order to be able to have an effective rate of return fire with the suspect. Those seconds matter,” Clifford said.
Lt. Aaron Fittery, a 15-year veteran with North Augusta Public Safety, was injured in the shootout. Fittery was shot in the leg during the incident, and his vehicle received extensive damage, including bullet holes in the driver’s seat headrest.
Clifford said the system being recommended is similar to how police cars were outfitted in the 1980s, with a locked gun rack beside the officer inside the car.
He said the department has 66 vehicles that need the modification. He said work to install them will be done by city employees.
Council members were also updated on the Thanksgiving Day fire at the city’s Mixed Use Recycling Facility.
“The insurance company has arrived at a financial number and sent it to human resources and our loss control division. The number was about two and a half million dollars for the structure and the equipment replacement and repairs,” said Public Services Director James Sutton.
Sutton said the staff will meet to work out a timeline for the repairs.
Dana Lynn McIntyre is a general assignment reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach her at dana@theaugustapress.com
