Residents of Savannah expressed widespread alarm following an officer-involved shooting that occurred on Thursday. The incident has left the city grappling with a sense of unease, as shared by those who spoke about the event.

The situation unfolded at approximately 1:30 p.m. when the Savannah Police Department (SPD) was alerted to the presence of an armed individual near the intersection of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and West Bay Street. Responding officers encountered a man brandishing a firearm at the scene.

According to official reports, an SPD officer repeatedly instructed the man to disarm. Despite these warnings, the situation escalated, leading the officer to discharge their weapon.

The man was subsequently shot and did not survive the encounter. In light of the incident, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) has launched an investigation into the fatal shooting involving the Savannah Police Department.

One local, Kenya Hunt, recently moved from New York. She said it’s shocking to see the crime is not very different between the two cities. 

“My first reaction was that it was interesting that the police asked him to put his gun down,” said Kenya. “I feel like for African American, having a gun in your hand would have been immediate, immediate shooting. But I am happy to hear that they tried to at least de-escalate a little bit.”

Hunt said everyone around town is talking about the assortment of crime Savannah has seen recently. 

A Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) student said she was in class when received the SCAD notification saying a shooting had occurred on Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard. 

She said the recent crime has had students on high alert. 

“With the acid attack and with this, it’s just seems like a lot of people are kind of getting away with it under like all under our noses,” said Elyssa Broderick. “We’re just kind of scared. I mean, we don’t walk alone at night. It’s kind of changed our perspective on like how we can hang out as like people and just be normal even at night, especially.”

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) is investigating the incident.