By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
City of Atmore officials will conduct a public hearing Thursday night, January 23, on the possible implementation of a citywide curfew in response to a string of gun violence incidents that plagued the city during November and December 2024 and cost three local men their lives.
The hearing is set for 5:30 p.m. at Atmore City Hall Auditorium (201 East Louisville Avenue).
A curfew was first discussed in the wake of a November 1 incident during which 49 shots — from weapons of numerous calibers — were fired into several occupied houses along 4th Avenue.
City detectives are currently investigating that shooting, as well as three others, including the wounding of a local man in a Brooks Lane incident (November 9), a double murder on Ashley Street (December 8), and another Ashley Street shooting (December 30) that left a local man with relatively minor injuries. They are also looking into a January 3 incident during which shots were fired into a CSX railcar.
A December 6 shooting at Point Escambia Apartments, just off Col. Farris Drive, left another Atmore man dead, but that murder was cleared by the arrest of the shooter.
The two Ashley Street shootings are similar in that the victims were sitting in a vehicle when they were shot and the recovery by police of 20 spent cartridges from around each vehicle.
Police Chief Chuck Brooks has received support from Mayor Jim Staff and all five city council members and has worked with City Attorney Larry Wettermark to draw up a proposed ordinance to restrict movement and travel on city streets in hopes it will help curb some of the gunplay.
That proposal won’t be finalized until the public has had its say on the matter. The mayor and council members will be on hand at Thursday’s meeting to hear any concerns from homeowners, renters and local business owners. The police chief and city attorney will also address attendees and answer any questions any member of the public might have about the proposed curfew.
Municipal Court Judge Karean Reynolds said he’s not sure just how effective a curfew will be in stopping the gunplay but agreed that some type of action is certainly needed.
“I don’t know if a curfew will solve the problem, but somebody doing anything is a step in the right direction,” he said.