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Augusta, GA

Richmond County Marshal’s Office lays out efforts to address homelessness

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Richmond County Marshal’s Office lays out efforts to address homelessness


AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The Richmond County Marshal’s Office held its latest data dump Wednesday, which happens once every two months.

Inside the meeting, the marshal’s office laid out a few efforts of how they’ve been engaging with the community recently, but homelessness was the main topic.

Part of the Richmond County Marshal’s Office’s duties includes clean-ups, evictions, citations, and more, which often leads them to interact with the county’s homeless population.

They showcased how a few of their clean-up efforts on Fenwick Street, Boy Scout Road, and Elkdom Court led them to homeless encampments they were eventually able to clean up.

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“We are not a homeless shelter, we are not a mental health facility, and so many times those are the two biggest needs,” said Mary Margaret LeRoy, the Kids and Outreach Pastor at Vineyard Church.

While Vineyard Church of Augusta serves more than 300 people a month on average with their weekly food pantry on Mondays, they say people experiencing homelessness nearby have been overwhelming.

“There have been times when I see people in our dumpster, and they’ll be looking for things, and sometimes I’ll go take the trash out over there, and someone has set up a home inside the dumpster,” said LeRoy.

After the Richmond County Marshal’s Office cleaned up Elkdom Court a few weeks ago, they tallied up around 60,000 pounds of belongings in that area.

They say waste is a good indicator that leads to homeless encampments, an issue with increasing visibility.

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Corporal Shawn Rhodes with the Richmond County Marshal’s Office presented in front of a tracking map saying, “Where are these encampments moving to? Up over here, where are they going? This is important data to help us get in front of this problem instead of always staying behind it.”

Also in attendance were several city representatives including realty owners, the Savannah Riverkeeper’s office, and the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office.

Lieutenant R. Silas spoke on behalf of where the sheriff’s office is coming from with addressing the issue as a county-wide problem, but also with their latest Washington Road and I-20 initiative.

He says it’s a problem that started when Housing and Urban Development’s hotel housing program eventually exhausted its funds, finding those same homeless individuals back on Washington Road. The program, funded by the CARES Act due to the pandemic, started with $2 million in 2021 but eventually ran out in 2022.

Silas also mentioned that from a “Pit Count” in February of 2023 of the 173 homeless they talked to, 98 percent were not from Augusta.

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With Augusta’s available resources, he says the sheriff’s office finds homeless people being brought in by other agencies from cities as far as Macon and Savannah, even sometimes across state lines.

It’s also why a “Sister Duty Agreement” between Augusta and Savannah was canceled.

Silas mentioned the initiative brought in homeless people from Savannah to Augusta starting back during Hurricane Katrina. After Hurricane Ian, he says it’s been too many homeless for Augusta to continue to take in.

To finish off the meeting, the Richmond County Marshal’s Office laid out a county-wide map of where they’ve been addressing homelessness dating back with information as far as 2018.

It shows concentrated clusters of activity in the downtown area and the Washington Road and I-20 corridor. Some stats included pinpointing 178 homeless encampments and about 1,280 arrests from 2020 to March of this year.

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The Richmond County Marshal’s Office says the key to addressing this is combining inside city department efforts, as well as other outside organizations, to properly clean up litter, and reaching out to the homeless by directing them to resources like the Salvation Army Center for Hope and CSRA Economic Opportunity Authority’s Marion Barnes Resource Center.



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Augusta, GA

WATCH: Gun comes out during fight at Butler High, video shows

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WATCH: Gun comes out during fight at Butler High, video shows


AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – A weapon was seized by school administrators after the apparent gun fell to the floor during a fight between students Tuesday at Butler High School.

Parents were told of the incident in a letter.

“Two students engaged in a fight in a classroom today during a class,” the letter stated. “During the altercation, students saw a weapon drop to the floor.”

The Richmond County School System didn’t address what kind of weapon it was, but a video on Facebook showed what appeared to be a gun.

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Administrators and Richmond County School System police responded immediately and secured the school for about 45 minutes while police investigated, parents were told.

The student was taken into custody and the incident was addressed following the Code of Student Conduct and Discipline.



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Augusta, GA

Police arrest suspect in Grovetown apartment complex shooting

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Police arrest suspect in Grovetown apartment complex shooting


GROVETOWN, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – A suspect has been arrested in connection to an apartment complex shooting in Grovetown, officials announced Wednesday morning.

Isaiah Bautista, 20, of Augusta, was located near Windsor Spring Road and Meadowbrook Drive, still riding in the suspect vehicle that was observed fleeing the scene of the earlier shooting, Grovetown Police Department says.

Bautista had a firearm at the time of his arrest and had multiple outstanding felony warrants through both Richmond County and Reidsville, Ga., police say.

Bautista was transported to the Charles B. Webster Detention Center on the outstanding warrants.  Additional warrants will be secured by Grovetown Investigators for his charges regarding tonight’s shooting.

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This investigation continues as investigators are working to identify the second suspect.

The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office assisted in apprehending Bautista.

The Grovetown Police Department says they received a 911 call Tuesday at 5:02 p.m. about a shooting at the 1000 block of Joiner Circle in Joiner Crossing Apartments in Grovetown.

Police Chief Jamey Kitchens told us he was on the scene around 5:34 p.m.

When officers arrived they discovered a male victim suffering from a gunshot wound to the upper chest.

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Officials say the victim was conscious when they arrived and is in a local hospital in surgery. He does not appear to have life-threatening injuries.

He tells us two unknown males entered the apartment, and one of the suspects fired several rounds hitting the victim once.

Officials say they responded Tuesday afternoon to Joiner Crossing Apartments in Grovetown.
Officials say they responded Tuesday afternoon to Joiner Crossing Apartments in Grovetown.(WRDW)

Officials used local cameras and doorbell cameras to capture the suspects fleeing on foot to a nearby vehicle and exiting the complex.

One of the suspects was wearing a mask and both were wearing dark-colored hoodies.

Multiple people were in the home at the time, including an infant who was within a few feet of the victim when he was shot. No other parties were injured.

They have a loose vehicle description and several leads are being pursued, according to Kitchens.

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Sean McKenzie

The victim was not a resident of the home where the incident occurred.

Kitchens wants the community to know that there is no danger to the community and that this appears to be a targeted attack.

A witness said she saw 17 police cars on the scene around 6 p.m. and that it appeared officers were searching up and down some nearby railroad tracks.

Police were clustered around one apartment in particular. The door was open and crime scene tape hung outside the entry.

Butler High School, Augusta, Ga.

Around 6:30 p.m., police brought out a child car seat and a diaper bag. The significance of those items wasn’t clear.

The incident comes amid an outbreak of violent crime that’s claimed about 200 lives in nearly three years across the CSRA.

The crime outbreak has affected communities large and small, but as the biggest city in the region, Augusta has been hit especially hard.

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Authorities have blamed much of the problem on gangs.

We are working to learn more information about the incident.



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Augusta, GA

Police respond to shooting at Grovetown apartment complex

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Police respond to shooting at Grovetown apartment complex


GROVETOWN, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Law enforcement officials are on the scene of a shooting incident at an apartment complex, according to the Grovetown Police Department.

No one was killed, and the victim was a male, according to authorities.

Officials say they responded Tuesday afternoon to Joiner Crossing Apartments in Grovetown.

Police Chief Jamey Kitchens told us he was on the scene around 5:34 p.m.

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Kitchens says it appears the victim was upstairs on the balcony of the apartment and went inside after he was shot.

Several other people were inside the apartment including an infant, according to Kitchens.

He tells us two unknown males entered the apartment, went upstairs and began shooting.

Officials say they responded Tuesday afternoon to Joiner Crossing Apartments in Grovetown.(WRDW)

Through the use of local cameras and doorbell cameras, officials say they were able to see that the suspects left in a vehicle.

They have a loose vehicle description and are trying to run down leads, according to Kitchens.

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Officials say the victim is in a local hospital in surgery and does not appear to have life-threatening injuries.

Kitchens wants the community to know that there is no danger to the community and this appears to be a targeted attack.

A witness said she saw 17 police cars on the scene around 6 p.m. and that it appeared officers were searching up and down some nearby railroad tracks.

Police were clustered around one apartment in particular. The door was open and crime scene tape hung outside the entry.

Around 6:30 p.m., police brought out a child car seat and a diaper bag. The significance of those items wasn’t clear.

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Butler High School, Augusta, Ga.

The incident comes amid an outbreak of violent crime that’s claimed about 200 lives in nearly three years across the CSRA.

The crime outbreak has affected communities large and small, but as the biggest city in the region, Augusta has been hit especially hard.

Authorities have blamed much of the problem on gangs.

We are working to learn more information about the incident.



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