Warm weather brings uptick of violence

JACKSON, Tenn —  One person is injured after a shooting at a east Jackson apartment complex.

It happened around 2:30 p.m. Monday. Police say the person who was shot has injuries that are not believed to be life-threatening.

As the temperature climbs, neighbors said there is a concern that violence will only rise. After the shooting on a 90-degree day, people who live in the area where the shooting happened are on edge about to what expect this summer.

Crime tape lined the outside of a Lincoln Courts apartment building.

“It never be the ones that stay over here,” resident Chiquita Willis said.

Neighbors called the incident  “a senseless act of violence.”

“Problems going on in Lincoln Courts and, if they do something in Lincoln Courts, they get away with it,” Willis said. “I mean, like, it’s just unnecessary stuff,”

Some believe high temperatures lead to more crime.

“Since it’s been hot, the heat and everything, some of the younger cats have nothing to do,” resident Otavis Young said.

People say most of the neighborhood crime involves teenagers. Young said he thinks adding more extra curricular activities will cut down on violence.

“They look for something to do, but they can’t find it so they look for basically the easiest, and the worst thing to do is crime actually,” Young said.

Another resident says, “they need better things to do like get involved with the Boys and Girls Club, maybe go to church.”

After a shooting in broad daylight, people say they are in fear for their safety.

“Lincoln Courts, I think they need to beef up our security over here for real because it’s getting ridiculous,” Willis said.

“It’s difficult to sleep at night sometimes. It makes you stay up at night sometime,” Young said. “To peek out the blinds or to see what’s going on.”

Another concerned resident said “shooting earlier and a guy was over here cutting the grass, they had to leave. They couldn’t even finish cutting the grass. It’s sad and the young girls can’t even sit out on the porch with they children.”

Many people say they want the violence to end before more people get hurt.

“If they all just pull together as a community instead of being against one another, things will always get better if you do that,” one resident said.

“It don’t make sense at the end of the day,” Willis said. “You never know who you gone need and y’all doing all this violence and all this stuff, like, what are you accomplishing?”

While details surrounding the shooting are limited, those who live nearby tell WBBJ 7 Eyewitness News they believe it started as an argument between two to three men, before multiple gunshots rang out.

If you have information that could help investigators call the Jackson Police Department at (731) 425-8400.