Augusta, GA

Shootings at store draw a call for action from Augusta leader

Published

2 years ago

January 16, 2024

Shootings at store draw a call for action from Augusta leader

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – An Augusta Commission member wants to deal with a convenience store that seems to be a magnet for gunfire and murders.

Catherine Smith McKnight wants to consider beefing up security or closing down the Smart Grocery at 3221 Wrightsboro Road due to the number of shootings happening around there.

It’s a matter she brought up at Tuesday’s meeting of the commission.

The store has been the site of at least nine shootings in recent years, at least two of them fatal, including one on Dec. 11 claimed the life of Jeremiah Griffin, 32, of the 300 block of Fox Trace.

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McKnight’s matter is being moved to the next committee meeting of the commission so the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office and the store owner can speak.

Through McKnight’s communication with her district, she told News 12 it could be an issue of staffing deputies around the area, and that the owner has reached out to the sheriff’s agency for an added officer that he would pay for.

Another store in the Glendale neighborhood near the Olive Road bridge will also be discussed due to the number of shootings that also happen around here.

Smart Grocery has had a high profile in the news for all the wrong reasons.

It doesn’t help that it’s near some apartment complexes that have been trouble spots for crime, including the one where Griffin lived.

In fact, one of the complexes – formerly known as Fox Den – had such a problem with drugs and other crime that the owner set up a mobile security tower with bright lights, cameras and a siren.

At least some of the violence from the apartments has spilled over to Smart Grocery in recent years, leading Smith McKnight to wonder at what point it becomes a public safety problem.

Smart Grocery and its immediate surroundings have been the site of several gun incidents in recent years. Among those incidents:

In July, one person was sent to a hospital after another shooting at the store.
In January 2023, a man was shot with his own gun in the 3200 block of Wrightsboro Road after an unknown person grabbed his pistol from his pocket and shot him with it as he tried to break up a fight.
In September 2022, Zayquantez Jones, 17, was killed in a shooting at the store.
In December 2021, two motorists fired gunshots at each other near the store before driving off in separate directions. One person was arrested.
On Nov. 23, 2021, a man pointed a gun at a woman in the parking lot of the store as part of an apparent road-rage incident.
In April 2021, a man was found in the parking lot of the store, injured after being shot at least twice.
In March 2020, a shooting there wounded a bystander after a verbal altercation in the parking lot. Marcia Laquette Wimbley, 28, of Augusta, was taken into custody
In November 2018, a victim was found in the parking lot of the store with at least two gunshot wounds in their mid-section.
In May 2017, a man suffered wounds to a hand and thigh in a shooting at the store. The injuries were not life-threatening.

Last year, commissioners vowed to bring more funding to fight crime in the area.

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Augusta, GA

Augusta’s Turpin neighborhood to get affordable homes with $1.85M federal grant

Published

8 hours ago

March 27, 2026

Press Room

Augusta’s Turpin neighborhood to get affordable homes with .85M federal grant

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The historic Turpin neighborhood will soon welcome more affordable homes after Augusta Habitat for Humanity was awarded $1.85 million in federal funding this week.

The grant will fund the construction of at least 12 homes in the area.

“Habitat for Humanity applied for federal funding, and they were awarded the funding,” said District 2 Commissioner Stacy Pulliam.

Reviving a historic community

The Turpin neighborhood was once home to professionals, including educators, doctors, and lawyers.

“These big professionals that lived mostly over this way,” one resident said of the neighborhood’s history.

Pulliam described the area’s former prominence as “its grand days of glory, when it was the place.”

The project brings together city organizers and community partners through the Georgia Initiative for Community Housing, or GICH.

“We have so many partners. We have the Housing Authority on board. We have a representative from the Hub on board,” Pulliam said. “There’s so many great partners at the table that’s helping pull all of this together.”

Federal support and future plans

The project received backing from Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.

Habitat for Humanity, with support from GICH, focused its application on Turpin Hill intentionally, as officials say the community had been needing to be addressed for years.

With Habitat for Humanity continuing to advocate for more funds, Pulliam said their motivation could lead to additional housing development in the future.

“We keep going and going and going,” she said. “Now we can do 20. Now we can do multifamily. So it’s fueling our fire to get more housing, but not just housing, to clean up the area.”

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Augusta, GA

Trump to sign emergency order to pay TSA agents as Augusta airport preps for golf week

Published

20 hours ago

March 27, 2026

Press Room

Trump to sign emergency order to pay TSA agents as Augusta airport preps for golf week

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – President Donald Trump said he will sign an emergency declaration to pay TSA agents, as nearly 500 have quit since the shutdown began.

More than 40 percent of Atlanta’s TSA agents did not show up on Wednesday, leading to long lines at Atlanta’s airport and across the country. It is unclear when President Trump will sign the emergency order. TSA workers will miss their second paycheck Friday.

In a statement on Truth Social, President Trump said, “I am going to sign an Order instructing the Secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, to immediately pay our TSA Agents in order to address this Emergency Situation.”

The president thanked TSA agents. The Department of Homeland Security as a whole will not be funded at this time. The Coast Guard and FEMA are among the agencies still impacted.

If senators do not reach a deal to fund the department on Friday, they are set for a two-week recess.

Augusta airport prepares for tournament week

TSA workers are a concern as tournament week approaches in Augusta. Security and safety are also concerns after a plane collided with a fire truck at LaGuardia Airport.

Augusta Regional Airport and its fire department are working to keep visitors safe as they fly in for tournament week.

William Kovalchuk, a sergeant with the Augusta Airport Fire Department, operates an airport-specific fire truck.

“There’s a ton of traffic and a ton of congestion. This whole ramp area where I showed you guys a little bit ago, it’ll be completely filled with aircraft,” Kovalchuk said.

Tournament week sees the regional airport become a global hub, with flights in from 13 extra cities and more than 200 private planes parked on the tarmac.

Lauren Smith, deputy director of Augusta Regional Airport, said the airport works closely with the FAA during tournament week.

“During that time, we actually work very closely with the FAA to bring in additional controllers,” Smith said.

Extra controllers keep the airspace and runway safe. Enhanced safety measures are in place inside the terminal as well.

“Overall, everyone brings in more staff. The tenants, the rental car agencies, the airlines, the airport itself,” Smith said.

The fire department stages a second station across the airport to cover every flight.

“The manning will be stepped up quite a bit,” Kovalchuk said. “We don’t want to see anything happen, but we’re prepared for it.”

The airport said the average wait time is still less than an hour to get through security during tournament week.

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Augusta, GA

Jefferson County library director named Georgia Library Director of the Year

Published

1 day ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

Jefferson County library director named Georgia Library Director of the Year

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – The Georgia Library Director of the Year was honored at a ceremony in Jefferson County.

Christina Shepherd received the award and a county proclamation. Jefferson County officials also honored the library board during the ceremony.

“I’m very thankful. I think it’s great for Jefferson County to have this award brought here and bringing light to us,” Shepherd said. “I don’t think I do anything extraordinary that any librarian wouldn’t do, but I just keep doing it. I appreciate it. I’m thankful.”

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