‘It looked like fireworks’: Witnesses describe shooting in bustling downtown Savannah
SAVANNAH, Ga. —
Savannah police are investigating a shooting that broke out Saturday evening in a busy downtown tourist area, where witnesses reported hearing dozens of gunshots.
Video obtained by WJCL shows a group of teenagers gathered in a parking lot near Bay Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. The man who recorded the video said he was watching from his hotel room when he saw an altercation followed by rapid gunfire.
“When my fiancée and I arrived at the hotel, our window was open and we noticed a couple dozen kids in the parking lot, and it didn’t necessarily seem like a friendly altercation. And it ultimately led to a shooting,” said Rocky Morgan, a visitor.
Morgan said he saw what appeared to be a gun during the incident.
“I can clearly see there’s a guy in a red sweatshirt who had a gun. And it looked like he fired back and someone had some sort of automatic weapon,” Morgan said.
Morgan later told police about what he witnessed.
“It looked like a lot of shots. Police said about 60 rounds were fired in such a short period of time from two guns, and one of them was recovered,” Morgan said.
Savannah Police Chief Gunther said officers responded to the parking lot after receiving several ShotSpotter alerts.
“We recovered video from the surrounding area. It shows at least two individuals shooting at each other. We didn’t locate any injuries. But we did see some property damage, about three cars that had been shot up,” Gunther said.
Brook Simmons, who was staying at a nearby hotel, said she looked out the window after the shooting and saw a heavy police presence.
“There were blue lights flashing in the room through the slit in the curtain. So I opened it and there were about ten police officers,” Simmons said.
Simmons said she also saw officers picking up what appeared to be bullet casings before returning to the area Sunday morning.
“There were two cops holding bags. I took a picture, and it looked like the bag was like a quarter full of bullet casings that they were picking up,” Simmons said.
Police said detectives are following up on leads, but no arrests have been made so far.
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