On Friday night, a shooting into a crowd outside a residence in Savannah left a 20-year-old man dead and seven others injured, two critically. Savannah police chief Roy Minter identified the man who died as Arthur Milton and said the shooting also injured two teens, 15 and 16. Police said during a Saturday news conference that all other victims, including an 18-month-old infant, had non-life-threatening injuries and are expected to recover.
The shooting also resulted in damage to three apartments and six vehicles. Police found at least 60 shell casings at the scene, where they say someone in a dark-colored or red sedan fired shots into a group of people outside of the residence. Minter said Friday’s shooting may be related to a previous incident at the same home, damaged by ten gunshots last Tuesday night.
“We don’t think it was a coincidence,” Minter said. Police had not identified any suspects as of Saturday afternoon. Minter made repeated pleas for people to come forward with information that might help with the ongoing investigation.
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Other U.S. cities – including Chicago and Austin, Texas – also saw shootings with multiple victims late Friday into early Saturday, which marked the fifth anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida. Nationwide, there have been 17 mass killings this year, defined as at least four people killed, not including the shooter, according to a USA TODAY/Associated Press/Northeastern University database. Sixteen of those were shootings.
Minter called recent instances of gun violence across the country “disturbing and senseless” and said this was the 14th homicide in Savannah this year. “We continue to see these instances of gun violence occurring in our community, Minter said. “These senseless acts of gun violence in our community must stop.”
Savannah Mayor Van Johnson said violent crimes are up by about 12%, most involving non-fatal shootings. The solution, Johnson said, isn’t more police on the streets. He emphasized the need for engaged residents to speak up when they see wrongdoing. Johnson and Minter said such action might have pre-empted what developed Friday.
“We cannot police our way out of this, and we do not want to be a police state,” Johnson said. “We recognize that police are our partners, but we have to be partners to the police.” Johnson joined Minter in pleading for the people to come forward. “Oftentimes people have told me they don’t want to get involved; they just mind their own business,” Johnson said.
“When I was coming up, that’s not how we were raised. We were raised in a way that if it happened on your block, it was everybody’s business. We had a spirit of community, of communication and unity.” He pointed out various ways in which people can provide information to law enforcement.
Nancy Guan is the general assignment reporter covering Chatham County municipalities. That includes contacting him directly, other council members and community faith leaders, if they don’t feel comfortable calling the police or Crimestoppers. Reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @nancyguann.
