Residents say security has improved at the Wilcox Boulevard Kanku’s store, but Thursday night they told the store’s owner they expect more.
A group of 35 North Brainerd Community Council members and Chattanooga residents met with Ashish Chaudhari, Kanku’s owner, at Dalewood Middle School to discuss security following recent shootings at the store.
“I still feel that it is an added value to our community,” said Robert Schreane, council chairman. Then he read off suggestions that Mr. Chaudhari clean up litter in the parking lot and call police when he suspects criminal activity at or near the store.
“When you deal with problems, you have to deal with what’s the most urgent and what’s the least urgent,” Mr. Schreane said. “Yours is the most urgent problem.”
Residents and local political leaders have spoken out against violence at the store, which police say lies between two gang territories. Police repeatedly have said that the store has not been the reason for the shootings but is a place where some troublemakers cross paths.
A Jan. 9 shooting at the store killed Jonathan Lawrence. Montez Davis is charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death.
On Feb. 27, Terrance Etchison was fatally shot in the store parking lot. Jamaal Byrd is charged with first-degree murder in the death.
Lloyd Stanley said Kanku’s is not the problem but simply a location where “two very unfortunate incidents happened.”
Mr. Chaudhari stood silently by his attorney for part of the meeting but also defended his store and how he’s handled past problems.
“We’re not the police. … If we see something illegal, we try to report it,” he told audience members who said they’d seen gambling, illegal drug sales and what appeared to be prostitutes in the lot of the store.
Store timeline* January 2009: Police doing an underage beer-buying investigation are present at the station when a black Hummer jumps the curb and pulls into the lot at a high rate of speed. Several young men get out and begin yelling and flashing gang signs at nearby patrons, police said. A disorder ensues, which police put down. Officers find open alcohol, a pistol and bags of marijuana in the Hummer.* July 30, 2009: Anthony Blocker, 28, is shot in the chest outside the Kanku’s about 5:30 p.m.* Jan. 9, 2010: Jonathan Lawrence, a customer pumping gas into his car, is fatally shot. Police charged Montez Davis, who they said is “a validated gang member,” with first-degree murder.* Feb. 27, 2010: A shooting in the parking lot leaves 27-year-old Terrance Etchison dead. Police charged Jamaal Byrd with first-degree murder in the shooting.Source: Newspaper archive
Mr. Schreane and fellow council member Joe Rowe said a larger police presence, with more patrols would help keep the area secure.
Within days of the Feb. 27 shooting, Mr. Chaudhari hired an additional off-duty Chattanooga police officer to cover busier hours.
One officer works 6 p.m. until closing, which varies from 1 a.m. to 3 a.m. The additional officer works from 9 p.m. until closing, Thursday through Sunday nights.
Residents say they’ve seen a vast improvement since the additional officer began working. But Mr. Chaudhari said at $2,500 a week for security he can’t keep that level much longer.
Following the meeting Mr. Schreane said he wanted to see continued improvements at the store, but if conditions worsen the council would look into reporting problems and as a last resort, ask that the store close.
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