SPALDING COUNTY, Ga. — A frightening video shows a dozen children running from gunfire just yards away from them as they played outside.
Channel 2′s Christian Jennings talked to the sheriff about the long-term effects on children witnessing such violence.
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When the deadly shooting happened it was Sunday afternoon, a beautiful day, so naturally kids were outside playing when gunfire erupted.
Angel Ambles is thankful her grandkids were not outside with the other children when investigators said 40 shots rang out in the parking lot where they were playing at Northside Hills apartments in Griffin.
“Me and my kids were in the house. We heard lots of shooting,” she said.
In the video you can see many of the children run for cover, but two stay behind and appear to watch the shooting. One child then goes back to playing.
“It takes part of their innocence away from them,” Sheriff Darrell Dix said.
Dix said 19-year-old Brandon Hawkins was charged in the Feb. 20 shooting. The victim was Charlotin Presley, 25. Dix said the argument started over a girl.
“We know at least one person there was a documented gang member, but right now I think it’s too early to say if the homicide itself was gang related,” Dix said.
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Talyah Robinson is a mother of three who said she doesn’t know what it’s going to take to stop the senseless violence.
“I have been out here two years, and I don’t let them play outside,” she said.
Dix said these children are lucky they weren’t harmed.
There have been a number of children killed by gunfire recently in metro Atlanta, including 6-month-old Grayson Fleming Gray, who was killed when he and his mother were caught in the crossfire of a shooting near Anderson Park in Atlanta.
“It’s sad and it’s caused by reckless, careless behavior, and it hits right in the heart,” Dix said.
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Dix said the parents of any children who may be struggling because of what they experienced can contact his office for support.
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