A dispute between neighbors on Sept. 17 escalated to gunfire.
Rosalyn Pinckney, 59, and Whitney Byrd, her 15-year-old granddaughter, were both wounded in the incident. Pinckney was sitting on the porch of her East 53rd Street home and her granddaughter was standing in the street when suspect Stacy Williams, 25, started shooting.
The victims were rushed to Memorial Health University Medical Center. Pinckney was listed in stable condition, while her granddaughter was listed in critical condition.
The incident began with an earlier altercation between the granddaughter, her mother and several other people in the neighborhood. Pinckney was described by police as an innocent bystander.
Williams fled from the scene after opening fire at about 9 p.m. Officers responding to the scene began combing the area where he had been seen running.
About a block away, the weapon believed to have been used in the shooting was recovered. Williams was arrested shortly after 4 p.m. on Sept. 18 when he surrendered to police after nearly 20 hours on the run. He was taken to the Chatham County Jail charged with two counts of aggravated assault. More charges are pending.
• A man waiting at a bus stop on Lamar Street told police he was robbed by a man with a gun.
The suspect approached the victim and asked, “You know what time it is?” The victim responded with the time, and the suspect replied, “Give me everything you got.”
The suspect then pulled out a black semi-automatic pistol and pointed it at the victim, who began handing over his property. The suspect said, “Hurry up, I ain’t got all day.”
After taking the victim’s property, the suspect fled south on Lamar and west on Tatum Street. A man fitting his description was later stopped for questioning.
• A three-hour standoff in west Chatham County began Sept. 19 when Shirley McGowen, 59, fired several rounds into the door of her boyfriend’s house on Old Grove Point Rd.
After the shooting, McGowen ran to her own home on Old Grove Point Road and barricaded herself inside. Her boyfriend was in the back of his house at the time of the shooting, but wasn’t injured.
Officers tried several times to contact McGowen inside her house, but she didn’t respond. Hostage negotiators and the SWAT team surrounded the house shortly before midnight and attempted negotiations by tossing a telephone into a window. The phone broke the window, causing McGowen to flee out the back door and into the custody of officers. She was arrested without incident, then taken to Memorial Health for evaluation.
About 3 a.m., McGowen was released from the hospital and transported to the Chatham County Jail. She was charged with multiple criminal violations, including possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and reckless conduct.
• A man with a gun entered the Regal Cinemas on Shawnee Drive and demanded money from the attendant. The suspect made off with an undisclosed sum before police arrived. Officers searched the area, but were unable to locate the suspect. The attendant wasn’t injured in the robbery. Surveillance photos of the suspect are being used in an attempt to locate him.
• A man who was wanted on a parole violation was spotted driving in the area of LaRoche and Skidaway.
Although police vehicle sirens and lights were used, the man refused to stop. His car went through the intersection of Mason Drive and Wilemere Street without stopping for the stop sign. The car then turned onto 62nd Street westbound to Cuba Street. It was traveling about 35 miles per hour when it turned north on Cuba Street towards Delesseps Avenue.
Officers were unable to keep up with the vehicle as it traveled west on Delesseps. It failed to stop for the stop sign at Delesseps and Cuba. As the car approached the Truman Parkway, the officers lost sight of it. It was later found abandoned at 57th and Salvador streets. An officer observed the suspect walking away from the area. When officers approached, he began to run down Waters Avenue. A canine officer was called to track the suspect, who was located behind a residence on East 53rd Street. He was taken into custody without further incident and transported to the Chatham County Detention Center.