Deputies respond to false report of shooting at Augusta Mall

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office responded to a false report of shots fired at the Augusta Mall on Saturday.

The sheriff’s office says deputies responded to 3350 Wrightsboro Road in reference to an active shooter.

Deputies say upon arrival, they searched the mall and concluded that a shooting never happened and was a false alarm.

This follows a deadly shooting in post housing at Fort Eisenhower on Saturday morning.

The shooting placed Fort Eisenhower on lockdown for nearly two hours.

If it had been a shooting, it wouldn’t be the first — or even the second — at the mall.

In July, one person was injured in a shooting in the Snipes store. Officials call it a “targeted incident”. In April, one person was injured in a shooting in Dillard’s at the mall.

In June 2022, a gun was brandished during a verbal dispute in the food court, and in 2020, a shooting killed one person at the mall.

All of this is part of a two-year outbreak of violent crime that’s claimed more than 180 lives across the CSRA.

Cities large and small have been affected on both sides of the Savannah River, but as the largest city in the region, Augusta has been hit especially hard.

Authorities have blamed much of the problem on gangs.

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