The downtown resident who recorded the downtown shootout between Richmond County officers and a homeless man called it “terrifying.”
The woman has lived a block away from the shootout for 16 years with her husband. They have a 6-year-old son and have not considered moving from their Greene Street home, even after Saturday’s shootout that her son thought was day-time fireworks. Video taken by the female resident indicates dozens of rounds were fired.
“I have never experienced anything of that sort. I have never even heard gunshots. It was frightening,” said the woman, who asked to remain anonymous. “The whole thing is a tragedy.”
Deputy Kenneth Mercer was struck in the neck during the shootout. He was listed in critical but stable condition on Sunday afternoon at Augusta University Medical Center. The suspect was killed, and the coroner’s office has not released his name as they struggle to find family.
Photos taken on Sunday show the homeless man had set up a camp behind the closed business on Ellis Street. Police records indicate the 36-year-old man had been arrested twice in April for criminal trespassing and for looking into cars around that area. A booking report described him as a black male, 6’1″ tall and 200 pounds.
The GBI, which is investigating the officer-involved shooting, said that deputies responded Saturday morning to an area near 12th and Ellis Streets in Augusta about a man with a gun.
“Deputies learned that the man had been pointing the gun at people in the area earlier that day,” a GBI press release says. “Deputies found the man in an enclosed area of a business that bordered Ellis Street. Deputies confirmed that the man had a gun. While speaking with him in an attempt to get him to surrender, there was an exchange of gunfire between the deputies and the man.”
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation is conducting an independent probe of the shootout at the request of the sheriff’s office. Once complete, the case file will be given to the Augusta Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for review.
The woman who filmed the gunfire from a block away said her husband was working in the garden Saturday when the homeless man started wandering aimlessly around Ellis Street with a gun and harassing a local business owner. At one point, the man pointed the gun at the business owner in his truck, and that victim pulled away and circled the block while several people called police.
The problem of homeless people has grown worse in the last year, the woman said. During a cold night in January, her dog started barking and she found a man looking into their car. He said he was trying to find a place to sleep, and she told him it was private property. So he moved on.
Last week, another man physically pulled up a sign post on her street and removed it, making her think about the complaints of people looking for metal to sell. “He walked off with a pole over his shoulder,” she said.
Also in the last year, a homeless encampment has popped up next to GAP Food Ministries on Ellis Street with about three tents, the woman said. She thinks the homeless population has vastly increased since 2020.
“There is more individuals wandering about, day and night,” she said. “There are more guys with grocery carts pushing them around. Two weeks ago, there was a man sleeping in the parking lot of the office next to me. He was sleeping with his cart. He was mumbling.”
The woman said she used to walk alone for hours each week in the downtown area. That changed six months ago when a man said something very strange to her as she walked on Broad Street. Now, she only walks in groups.
“I am not afraid. I have never been afraid,” she said. “But it’s getting increasingly uncomfortable with strange men wandering around. …
“I am not saying they are bad people. I just think they need to help these people find a place to be. And I don’t think we have the resources for this kind of thing. I don’t yet know what you would do to combat the problem.”
She doesn’t fault the sheriff’s office. In fact, she has enjoyed seeing officers riding around downtown on golf carts in teams of two. It’s mostly on weekdays, she said.
“It’s nice to know people are watching,” she said.
