[ad_1]
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WDTV) – Two recent shootings in downtown Morgantown have business owners on edge.
“We don’t feel safe having our kids here and being in the store on the weekends,” said Alexis Munhall, owner of Christer Cottage on High Street.
On Oct. 30, a man was shot outside a banked bar after multiple shots were fired.
The second shooting happened on Saturday, when a man wearing a sky mask fired several shots before taking off, hitting a man in the leg.
Business owners say they are tired of waiting for change and have decided to vent.
“It’s very sad that we have to deal with the safety issues of being on the high street and you don’t even want to travel that far because you’re worried about walking to your car,” said retailer Hope Harling of Cool Ridge.
“It seems like it happens every weekend and I used to walk to work and I definitely don’t walk to work anymore,” said Casey Hughes, a bartender at Gibby’s Pub and Eatery.
The Morgantown Police Department says they’re understaffed and don’t have enough manpower, but business owners say they’re not doing enough and it’s starting to affect their customer base.
“We need law enforcement to stop things like this before they get out of hand,” said Pita Pit’s GM Isaac Galloway.
“I see a lot of college students, adults and a few kids, and I can understand that people don’t feel safe if they don’t want to bring their kids down the high street to see the animals or the local shops.” Munhall said.
“I’ve had clients who were thrilled to walk in the door without sitting in their car to make sure their husbands were safe. It’s too much. We need three times the police on the street right now. We need to eliminate the draw that brings these people in from our area,” said Connie & Frank’s owner Connie Merandy.
Some owners we spoke to had the opposite feeling, saying police were doing the best they could with the resources they had.
“For the amount of officers, they actually have to work, they do everything they can, they seem to take care of everything they need to take care of, I think they’re spread pretty thin,” Jim Coombs said. , owner of Coombs Flowers.
No arrests have been made in either shooting.
Copyright 2022 WDTV. all rights reserved.
[ad_2]
Source link
