No one was injured and one person was arrested following an attempted shooting in the parking lot of Crossroads Shopping Center in Hinesville Saturday afternoon.
“We heard about five pops and I didn’t know what they were,” Elaine Boggs, whose real estate office is in the center, said. “I thought someone was hitting the front window so started to walk out but was told to stay back and get down, there was someone firing randomly.”
Police were called to the shopping center at the corner of Highway 84 and Gen. Screven Way just before 4 p.m. Besides the arrest the targets of the shots were talking to police.
Hinesville Police head of detectives Maj. Thomas Cribbs said the shots were not being fired at random. He said one person was firing at a vehicle being driven passed Boggs office and other stores.
Stores were open and people were in the parking lot and stores. Most witnesses said they wanted to remain anonymous.
Cribbs said the shooting was apparently sparked by an argument, though he did not say what the issue was. Witnesses told police two cars stopped in the parking lot and a man got out of one. He walked over to the other, which was occupied by several individuals, and they started arguing. He then walked back to his car, pulled out a handgun and started shooting at the other vehicle.
No one was hit as the second vehicle sped out of the parking lot. The shooter ran behind the row of stores and was caught behind Goody’s Family Clothing store, radio reports said. The reports also said a gun was found on the ground near the scene.
Boggs said her employees called 911 as the shooting stopped and that police were there in minutes. Officers apparently were able to stop the car that sped away and the individuals were taken to HPD.
No one inside the nearby Lovely Nails was hurt but an employee said it was disturbing to have it happen so close and in broad daylight.
Bogg said her employees were so unnerved she closed her office early for the day.
“It’s very scary… We didn’t think it was safe to be here today,” she said, adding she has asked police to step up patrolling in the shopping center, on top of the private security that already works it.
“We don’t expect that in Hinesville,” she said.
Patty Leon and Lewis Levine reported this story.
“We heard about five pops and I didn’t know what they were,” Elaine Boggs, whose real estate office is in the center, said. “I thought someone was hitting the front window so started to walk out but was told to stay back and get down, there was someone firing randomly.”
Police were called to the shopping center at the corner of Highway 84 and Gen. Screven Way just before 4 p.m. Besides the arrest the targets of the shots were talking to police.
Hinesville Police head of detectives Maj. Thomas Cribbs said the shots were not being fired at random. He said one person was firing at a vehicle being driven passed Boggs office and other stores.
Stores were open and people were in the parking lot and stores. Most witnesses said they wanted to remain anonymous.
Cribbs said the shooting was apparently sparked by an argument, though he did not say what the issue was. Witnesses told police two cars stopped in the parking lot and a man got out of one. He walked over to the other, which was occupied by several individuals, and they started arguing. He then walked back to his car, pulled out a handgun and started shooting at the other vehicle.
No one was hit as the second vehicle sped out of the parking lot. The shooter ran behind the row of stores and was caught behind Goody’s Family Clothing store, radio reports said. The reports also said a gun was found on the ground near the scene.
Boggs said her employees called 911 as the shooting stopped and that police were there in minutes. Officers apparently were able to stop the car that sped away and the individuals were taken to HPD.
No one inside the nearby Lovely Nails was hurt but an employee said it was disturbing to have it happen so close and in broad daylight.
Bogg said her employees were so unnerved she closed her office early for the day.
“It’s very scary… We didn’t think it was safe to be here today,” she said, adding she has asked police to step up patrolling in the shopping center, on top of the private security that already works it.
“We don’t expect that in Hinesville,” she said.
Patty Leon and Lewis Levine reported this story.