A toppled table near LensCrafters sent shoppers stampeding through the Augusta Mall Sunday evening after the crash was mistaken for gunfire.
What It Means For You: If you were at the mall around 7 p.m. and saw people running, you can breathe easy. Nobody was shooting. A display just had a really bad day.
What’s Happening: The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office flooded the mall with deputies after multiple 911 calls reported possible shots fired. What they found was a fallen display near LensCrafters on the lower level that had knocked over a table, creating loud banging sounds that triggered a panic.
- No shots were fired, no fights broke out, and no one was hurt.
- Deputies arrived quickly and confirmed nothing criminal had occurred.
The Big Picture: While Augusta has seen significant decreases in crime in the last two years, residents are still anxious because of the area’s high crime rate. According to Neighborhood Scout, Augusta is only safer than 5% of U.S. cities.
The Sources: Richmond County Sheriff’s Office, Neighborhood Scout, Augusta Crime Statistics.
B.T. Clark is the Publisher of The Georgia Sun and author of Principles Are Like Pants… You Ought to Have Some. Over two decades in journalism, he has served as Managing Editor of Neighbor Newspapers in metro Atlanta and Digital Director at Times-Journal Inc., earning multiple awards along the way. His work has appeared in newspapers across the state, including The Cherokee Tribune and The Marietta Daily Journal.
- B.T. Clark
- B.T. Clark
- B.T. Clark
- B.T. Clark
