String of shootings in Macon leaves 6 dead, 2 injured. Is something causing a spike?
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Bibb County has seen seven shootings that left six dead and two seriously injured in the last several days.
On April 4, a shooting at Bloomfield Townhomes left a man dead and a woman hospitalized. A man was hospitalized from a gunshot wound at a liquor store on Eisenhower Parkway on Monday. On Tuesday, a man died from a gunshot wound on Andrews Drive and another man died from a gunshot wound at Riverview Hotel. Three men died from gunshot wounds on Wednesday; one on Ruark Circle in Macon, one on Winston Drive, and one at the Haven Inn and Suites on Holiday Drive in Macon.
The number of deadly shootings in the past week has been much higher than what the county has seen up to this point in the year: There have been 11 deaths from gun violence in Bibb County this year, including the recent six, according to the Bibb County Sheriff’s Department.
Bibb County Sgt. Christopher Williams said the uptick in shootings seems to be random.
“The recent incidents are not attributed to anything in particular that would cause this sudden spike,” he said.
“None of the incidents that have occurred on April 9 are related,” Williams said. “At this time, which is early in the investigation, none of the recent incidents have shown evidence that they are related.”
Williams said investigators are addressing and exhausting every available resource to investigate and solve these cases as efficiently as possible.
“Every violent crime that occurs, we immediately investigate it to determine what led up to the particular incident and take action,” he said. “All incidents are actively under investigation by investigators here at the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office.”
Macon had 40 homicides in 2023, which was a significant drop compared to 2022’s tally of 70 — a total that shattered the city’s prior homicide record, according to prior Telegraph reporting.
It corresponded with a national trend that saw murders decline just about everywhere in the country.
The 2023 homicides in Macon marked the lowest yearly total since 2019, when the city had 26 homicides.
