Augusta, GA

AU police speak on campus safety after slaying of nursing student

Published

2 years ago

February 27, 2024

Press Room

AU police speak on campus safety after slaying of nursing student

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Laken Riley’s death has renewed the conversation about campus safety.

At the University of Georgia, there is an online petition for blue call boxes.

Augusta University campus police say those call boxes were removed from UGA’s campus back in 2004.

We talked with Augusta University Police to learn more about how they are improving safety.

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Captain Harry Smith says AU has no intentions of moving those call boxes anytime soon.

Smith said: “Our college students are mostly young people. I have a kid in college myself right now, I worry about his safety,” said Smith.

AU’s police department sits at the entrance to the medical district in downtown Augusta.

“Even if you don’t see an AU police officer, right there, there’s one not too far away,” said Smith. “Throughout our campus, we have the blue light emergency phones. That blue light is a sign of our presence there.”

For the blue light system, you press a button and it automatically takes your call to the campus police department.

Smith says the majority of their calls come through the RAVE Guardian app. The app is designed for students and staff to provide more safety resources.

“The conversations moving forward are about how to best effectively use those programs, those outreach measures, the tools that we as a university community provide,” said Smith.

Smith says AU’s police department recently received a grant from the Department of Justice to bring technology upgrades for safety and security. He says a large piece of that grant is to increase camera coverage on campus.

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Augusta, GA

Historic Masters landmark purchased and renovated by local resident

Published

8 hours ago

May 9, 2026

Press Room

Historic Masters landmark purchased and renovated by local resident | News | wfxg.com

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Augusta, GA

Georgia governor candidate Olu Brown campaigns in Augusta

Published

20 hours ago

May 9, 2026

Press Room

Georgia governor candidate Olu Brown campaigns in Augusta

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Democratic candidate for Georgia governor Olu Brown visited Augusta on Friday evening, stopping near the Sand Hills Community Center as early voting continues.

Brown is one of six candidates in the Democratic primary.

Campaign priorities

Brown said his vision as governor would focus on three main areas.

“One, it’s affordability around health care and making sure we expand Medicaid and expand Peach Care and make sure we continue to make our rural health care systems healthy and vital,” Brown said. “Number two, we’ve got to address education in all of Georgia, making sure every kid in Georgia gets an excellent education, and we’re paying our teachers more. And number 3, we’re protecting the rights of all women. Folks in the Gold Dome shouldn’t be making decisions about their bodies or the choices that they make.”

Brown is running against Amanda Duffy, Derrick Jackson, Geoff Duncan, Jason Esteves, Keisha Lance Bottoms and Mike Thurmond.

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Augusta, GA

Augusta Prep student arrested over picture of LEGO gun, threat he called a joke

Published

1 day ago

May 8, 2026

Press Room

Augusta Prep student arrested over picture of LEGO gun, threat he called a joke

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – An Augusta Prep student was arrested on a charge of terroristic threats over a picture of a LEGO gun he posted on social media.

It happened Wednesday, according to an incident report from the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office.

Eric Hedinger, the principal of Augusta Preparatory Day School, told deputies a student had uploaded a picture to Snapchat of a “pistol” with the caption “shooting up the school so I don`t have to take the stats exam tomorrow. Don`t come yall!”

The principal said he spoke to the student and his father about the photo.

The principal also provided deputies with the student’s address in Grovetown.

A deputy went there and was told by the student that the “pistol” was a LEGO set that he had built.

He also said the comment he made was supposed to be a joke because he was not looking forward to taking his Advanced Placement statistics test this week.

The student showed the deputy the box that the LEGO set came in, and how the set was already disassembled.

The deputy also looked in the boy’s room to make sure he was not in possession of any weapons.

The mother advised that there was one firearm in the residence but it was locked up.