The owners of a convenience store where three shootings have occurred in the last eight months agreed Thursday to hire more security officers in an effort to help curb the violence.
“Our goal is to make it safe for the area – make everybody safe,” said Ashish Chaudhari, owner of Kanku’s on Wilcox Boulevard.
City Councilmen Russell Gilbert and Peter Murphy held a 90-minute meeting Thursday night with the owners of Kanku’s, asking them to hire additional security officers who work a longer period of time. The meeting was held after two shootings occurred outside the store in the last two months.
Terrance Etchison, 27, was shot in the chest outside Kanku’s on Saturday and later died from the wounds. Jamaal Byrd, 29, has been charged with first-degree murder in the case.
On Jan. 9, Jonathan Lawrence, 42, was shot and killed as he was pumping gas. Authorities charged Montez Davis with first degree-murder in that shooting. In July 2009, a 28-year-old man was shot in the chest in the parking lot but was not killed.