Meeting set for January 23rd
By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
City of Atmore officials are taking the lingering possibility of a citywide curfew to the next step, announcing that a public hearing has been set for 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 23, at Atmore City Hall Auditorium (201 East Louisville Avenue) to discuss any potential travel restrictions within the city.
A curfew was first discussed in the wake of a November 1 incident during which several gunmen or a gunman using weapons of several different calibers, fired dozens of shots into several houses along 4th Avenue.
Since then, city detectives have looked into the circumstances behind and sought suspects in the wounding by gunfire of a local man on Brooks Lane (November 9). They were called out December 6 to a shotgun slaying at a seniors apartment complex off Colonel Farris Drive, and two days later they began an investigation into the murders of two other local men, making the two-month period one of the bloodiest and most violent in recent city history.
An arrest has been made in only one of the shootings. Gelonté Giles, 31, of Atmore was first charged with one count each of attempted murder and discharging a firearm into an occupied building in the December 6 shooting of 32-year-old Rakeem Phillips, which took place at Point Escambia Apartments.
Phillips died in an area hospital less than two days later, and the charge against Giles was upgraded to murder. According to Escambia County Detention Center records, the suspect, who has been denied bond, was moved Monday, December 30, from the county jail to another area facility for safety reasons.
Just hours after Phillips was pronounced dead, 25-year-old Juwan McNeal and 27-year-old Joe Jones Jr. were shot dead by two or more shooters who sprang from ambush behind a house on Ashley Street as the two Atmore men sat in a vehicle.
Both victims were hit several times and were dead when police arrived. Investigators recovered 20 spent cartridges from around the vehicle.
In the wake of those incidents, Police Chief Chuck Brooks has received vocal support from Mayor Jim Staff and all five city council members and has worked with City Attorney Larry Wettermark to draw up a curfew ordinance proposal designed to help curb some of the gunplay.
The proposal won’t be finalized until the public has had its say on the matter, though.
Staff and council members will be on hand at the January 23 meeting to hear any concerns from homeowners, renters and local business owners. Brooks and Wettermark will address attendees and answer any questions anyone might have about the proposed curfew.
For more information on the upcoming meeting, call the Atmore City Clerk’s Office at (251) 368-2253 or visit the city’s website, https://welcometoatmore.com/.