Augusta, GA
Survey finds spike in Ga. gangs – and we’re at ground zero
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Georgia’s gang membership numbers have skyrocketed in the past six years, according to a survey released by a nonprofit on Friday.
The survey didn’t show an increase in gang violence but did show agencies reporting that gangs are responsible for about 65% of all crime in Georgia.
That’s in line with what the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office has told News 12.
The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office Special Operations Division tells us gang violence is the root of almost all violent crime here – as well as less violent crimes like bank fraud and car break-ins.
In 2024, Georgia is home to more than 127,000 gang members and associates, the Georgia Gang Investigators Association said.
That marks about an 80% increase from its 2018 survey, which found about 71,000 members.
The number of violent gangs has also risen from 1,600 to more than 1,900, the survey found.
The increase is “significant and alarming,” the association said — and the numbers are likely much higher. The survey took reported data from sheriff’s offices and law enforcement agencies in 86 of Georgia’s 159 counties, leaving 73 unrecorded.

“The surge in gang membership and violence is a clear sign that we need to take more aggressive and collaborative measures to address the growing influence of gangs in Georgia,” GGIA President Jose Ramirez said in a statement. “The findings in this survey highlight the urgency of implementing comprehensive strategies to protect our communities and provide young people with alternatives to gang life.”
Ramirez said gang recruitment among young people is particularly concerning.
“They’re selling a gang lifestyle that ultimately provides a psychological trap under the disguise of love, acceptance and power,” he said.
Gang violence happens all across Georgia, whether it’s in a rural or populated area, the survey found.
In Richmond County
The CSRA has been caught up in a cycle of violent crime that’s claimed more than 180 lives in the past two years.
Underneath that crime is the drug and gun situation happening in Richmond County, Richmond County deputies told News 12 a few weeks ago.
Hundreds of pounds of drugs, hundreds of guns and millions in cash were found in neighborhoods across Richmond County.
Investigators are tracking just how much cash, drugs and guns are seized during search warrants.
Data kept by the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office tells the story of what law enforcement is up against.
From 2018 to May 2024, the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office seized $4,348,817 from search warrants alone. That also includes at least 1,152 guns and 226 vehicles.
Over the course of the past six years, there have been more than 2,500 arrests and nearly 2,000 felony cases.
As for the drugs seized, since 2021 when deputies began tracking fentanyl seizures, 39 pounds have been recovered.

Since 2021, that number has increased dramatically.
The total doubled from 2022 to 2023, and this year, it’s on track to increase again.
Since 2018, investigators took more than 1,200 pounds of marijuana, 166 pounds of meth, 166 pounds of cocaine, and nearly 6,000 oxycodone pills.
Across Georgia
In 2022, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr launched the State’s Gang Prosecution Unit, convicting 48 gang members to date.
“When it comes to protecting our children, we must double and triple down on anti-recruitment efforts across the board, and we must continue to ensure that our law enforcement officers have the training and resources they need to bring strong cases that ultimately lead to safer communities,” Carr said.
The survey only pulled from data made available to the nonprofit, Ramirez said. He believes a good next step would be for the state to track gang violence data, allowing for a more complete picture.
Copyright 2024 WRDW/WAGT. All rights reserved.
Augusta, GA
It’s a boy! Scottie Scheffler arrives at Masters with 9-day-old son and a game he hopes is ready | Texarkana Gazette
Augusta, GA
MASTERS ’26: Key anniversaries over the years at Augusta National
AUGUSTA, Ga. — A look at some of the anniversaries this year at the Masters:
75 years ago (1951)
Winner: Ben Hogan
Score: 70-72-70-68—280
Margin: 2 shots
Prize: $3,000
Runner-up: Skee Riegel
Key to win: Hogan started the final round one shot behind Riegel and Sam Snead and shot 68 without making a bogey.
In this April 12, 1976 file photo, Jack Nicklaus, right, assists Raymond Floyd in putting on his green jacket after Floyd won the Masters Golf Championship at Augusta, Ga. Credit: AP/Anonymous
Noteworthy: Hogan won his second major after his near-fatal car accident. The following year, he wrote a letter to Augusta National co-founder Cliff Roberts suggesting a dinner for all the Masters champions.
AP story: “Icicle-nerved Ben Hogan added a sensational flourish to one of the great comeback sagas in sports Sunday when he won his first Masters golf championship with a near-record 280. The gristly little man from Texas subdued Augusta National’s treacherous acres with a grim and meticulous last round 68, four under par golf that burned off all opposition. The 38-year-old National Open champion, winner of that crown twice and the PGA as many times, thus completed his slam of major American pro championships.”
50 years ago (1976)
Winner: Raymond Floyd
Score: 65-66-70-70—271
Tiger Woods reacts to his birdie putt on the 18th hole after winning the 2001 Masters at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., Sunday, April 8, 2001. Credit: AP/DOUG MILLS
Margin: 8 shots
Prize: $40,000
Runner-up: Ben Crenshaw
Key to the win: Floyd made birdie or eagle on every par 5 through 54 holes in building an eight-shot lead. He tied the 72-hole record held by Jack Nicklaus.
Noteworthy: Floyd joined Craig Wood, Arnold Palmer and Nicklaus as the only wire-to-wire winners of the Masters. There would not be another one until Jordan Spieth in 2015.
AP story: “Ray Floyd — never pressured, never pushed — took a casual little stroll through the Georgia piney woods this sunny Sunday, paused to strike the golf ball 70 times and ambled home with perhaps the easiest Masters victory of all time. Floyd, a 33-year-old one-time playboy turned solid, sober family man, won this 40th renewal of golf’s annual spring rite with a 271 total, 17 under par and matching the tournament record for 72 holes set by Jack Nicklaus in 1965. Only handsome young Ben Crenshaw — who gave a flock of giggling girls a little thrill when he hiked his britches above his knees to wade into the pond on the 16th hole — could generate any challenge at all and that was much too little, much too late.”
25 years ago (2001)
Winner: Tiger Woods
Score: 70-66-68-68—272
Margin: 2 shots
Prize: $1,008,000.
Runner-up: David Duval
Key to the win: Woods was locked in a thriller with his two chief rivals, Duval and Phil Mickelson. They each made bogey on the par-3 16th and never caught up to Woods, who didn’t drop a shot over the last six holes. His second Masters title allowed him to hold all four majors at the same time.
Noteworthy: Woods swept the four majors with a combined score of 65-under par and had at least a share of the lead after 13 of the 16 rounds.
AP story: “Slam or not, Tiger Woods was simply grand. With a heart-stopper at Augusta National punctuated with a birdie at the end, Woods claimed the greatest feat in modern golf Sunday by winning the Masters, giving him a clean sweep of the four professional majors in a span of 294 days. Woods closed with a 68, steady down the haunting back nine of Augusta National as David Duval and Phil Mickelson failed to harness the magic that has carried Woods to five of the last six majors. The only thing left to debate is what to call this remarkable feat. Purists argue that a Grand Slam is accomplished in a calendar year. Woods, emotionally drained after a relentless battle from start to finish, stayed out of the argument. “I won four,” he said.”
20 years ago (2006)
Winner: Phil Mickelson
Score: 70-72-70-69—281
Margin: 2 shots
Prize: $1,260,000
Runner-up: Tim Clark
Key to the win: Mickelson had a one-shot lead and didn’t make a bogey until the final hole. Fred Couples had a 4-foot birdie putt on the 14th to pull within one shot and three-putted.
Noteworthy: After going more than a decade before winning a major, Mickelson won three of the last nine.
AP story: “Phil Mickelson is a Masters champion again, and now he’s making it look easy. Once known as a lovable loser who needed a dozen years to figure out how to win golf’s biggest events, Mickelson captured his second straight major Sunday at Augusta National, and this one was hardly a nail-biter. He closed with a 3-under 69 for a two-shot victory over Tim Clark, and his second green jacket in three years. There were no thrills for Phil, rather calculated shots that forced Fred Couples, Tiger Woods and Vijay Singh to try to catch him. Instead, they stumbled along with three-putts and a litany of other mistakes that allowed Mickelson to stroll up the 18th fairway already knowing how this major would end.”
10 years ago (2016)
Winner: Danny Willett
Score:70-74-72-67—283
Margin: 3 shots
Prize: $1,800,000
Runner-up: Jordan Spieth and Lee Westwood
Key to the win: Willett was five shots behind on the back nine when Spieth made bogeys at Nos. 10 and 11 and twice hit into Rae’s Creek to make a quadruple-bogey 7 on the par-3 12th. Willett shot 33 on the back with birdies on the 13th, 14th and 16th holes.
Noteworthy: Willett became the first Englishman to win the Masters since Nick Faldo in 1996. Willett played the final round with Westwood, who also would play the final round with the U.S. Open champion (Dustin Johnson) two months later.
AP story: “Jordan Spieth couldn’t bear to watch, turning his head before another shot splashed into Rae’s Creek. Moments later, Danny Willett looked up at the large leaderboard at the 15th green and couldn’t believe what he saw. This Masters turned into a shocker Sunday, right down to the green jacket ceremony. Spieth was in Butler Cabin, just like everyone expected when he took a five-shot lead to the back nine at Augusta National. Only he was there to present it to Willett, who seized on Spieth’s collapse with a magnificent round that made him a Masters champion.”
5 years ago (2021)
Winner: Hideki Matsuyama
Score: 69-71-65-73—278
Margin: 1 shot
Prize: $2,070,000
Runner-up: Will Zalatoris
Key to the win: Matsuyama might have won this Saturday with a bogey-free 65 to build a four-shot lead. He led by as many as six shots but effectively sealed it when Xander Schauffele hit into the water on the 16th and made triple bogey. Matsuyama bogeyed three of the last four holes.
Noteworthy: The victory came 10 years after Matsuyama made his debut at Augusta National as the Asia-Pacific Amateur champion. Matsuyama was the first Masters champion since Trevor Immelman in 2008 to be over par in the last round.
AP story: “Hideki Matsuyama delivered golf-mad Japan the grandest and greenest prize of all. Ten years after Matsuyama made a sterling debut as the best amateur at Augusta National, he claimed the ultimate trophy Sunday with a victory in the Masters to become the first Japanese winner of the green jacket. Matsuyama closed with a 1-over 73 and a one-shot victory that was only close at the end, and never seriously in doubt after Xander Schauffele’s late charge ended with a triple bogey on the par-3 16th. Moments before Dustin Johnson helped him into the green jacket, Matsuyama needed no interpreter in Butler Cabin when he said in English, ‘I’m really happy.’”
Augusta, GA
Borovilos ties for 11th at Augusta National Women’s Amateur
AUGUSTA, Ga. (KBTX) – AUGUSTA, Ga. (KBTX) – Texas A&M golfer Vanessa Borovilos finished tied for 11th after three rounds at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
The sophomore shot even par on the final day of competition, recording five birdies. She finished the event at 5-under 211.
Borovilos is the 24th-ranked amateur in the world and the third Aggie golfer to place in the top 15 at the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. She joins Cayetana Fernández García-Poggio and Jennie Park.
Texas A&M women’s golf hosts The “Mo” Morial at Traditions Club April 4-6.
Copyright 2026 KBTX. All rights reserved.
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