Heightened concern in North Charleston neighborhood after shootings 6 days apart

Updated: Jul. 24, 2020 at 4:50 PM EDT
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NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - Police increased their presence in a North Charleston neighborhood Friday after shootings six days apart.

Police say the shootings happened on Thursday and last Saturday on Ranger Drive in the Dorchester Waylyn subdivision.

No one was killed in either shooting and no arrests have been made.

Longtime resident Roy Kelly lives not far from where the shootings happened.

“I’m really concerned because I got scared going to sleep at night time sometimes when you hear gunshots going on, it’s really bad,” Kelly said Friday.

“Really concerned, really concerned about them shooting people in the street,” resident Edward Ancrum said. “I stay in my house every night now. I stay in the house after dark.”

A group called Rebuilding Every Community Around Peace or RECAP walks through Dorchester Waylyn and two other neighborhoods when crime spikes.

In 2019, a group of ministers, officers and business people started walking the neighborhood at night, and talking to residents.

Major Joyce Smith says the walks have made a difference.

According to statistics provided by the police department, there were no murders in Dorchester Waylyn in 2019 and none so far this year.

However, vandalism caused by gunshots has gone up. There were two incidents from January through July in 2019 and nine incidents so far this year.

Folks who live in the neighborhood are hoping the increased patrols will help.

“You feel safer seeing them riding around, you really do,” Kelly said.

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