Wave of violence: Shootings terrify neighbors across Montgomery

Michael Livingston was shot five times July 21.

Two teen brothers are suspected of robbing Livingston in his home on Kimball Street and then shooting him as he escaped.

One brother entered the home under the guise of buying candy, Livingston said. When Livingston left to retrieve the candy, he heard the door slam, and the second brother entered the home. Livingston returned to his living room, and the brothers pointed their pistols at him.

Livingston said he struggled with the teens and escaped the house. Then, he said they opened fire on him with guns that were equipped with a switch to transition them to automatic weapons.

Livingston continued to run to the street corner, where he was able to hitch a ride to the hospital.

The shooting was part of a wave of violence that has swept across Montgomery during the past month.

'A wall of silence'

From July 28 to July 31 − Friday to Monday − there were 10 non-fatal shootings, said Maj. Saba Coleman, with the Montgomery Police Department. Coleman said the overall number of non-fatal shootings is up from last year, but the department was unable to provide an exact number by publication.

There were 49 homicides in Montgomery by the end of July, MPD Capt. A. D. Payne said. The department has solved 29 of those. By the same point last year, there were 39 homicides.

Yet the department has struggled to prosecute suspects in non-fatal shootings because victims often refuse to cooperate with the police. “A lot of our shooting victims are refusing to prosecute and creating a wall of silence," Coleman said.

Mayor Steven Reed attributes the rise in shootings to Alabama's new permitless carry law. That statewide law went into effect Jan. 1 and abolished a longstanding requirement to have a permit to carry a concealed weapon in public.

Reed brought up the impact of the law at the June 20 Montgomery City Council meeting when talking to a group of concerned citizens who live in the Edgewood neighborhood. “We allow anyone to carry a gun," Reed said.

Bullets with no address

The Edgewood neighbors were led by Emily Wise, who spoke at the meeting. Both she and her neighbor Tara Bush are angry about what they see as the city's lack of action in response to these shootings.

“We’re upset because we’re obviously moms who have children who are going to grow up in the city," Bush said.

They said they regularly hear shootings in their neighborhood. Wise said there are unanswered 911 calls and a lack of police response.

“When we first moved back here, it was when downtown was just starting to kind of revitalize," Wise said. "Everyone was so excited. All you heard about was how Montgomery’s getting so much better, and there’s so much more to do, and you felt safer. And then it all of a sudden just kind of leveled out or got worse. I just want to feel that again. I want to feel that hope.”

Across town, Angela Exford, the Seth Johnson Neighborhood Association president, also describes hearing regular gunfire. One spring evening it made her fear for her life.

She had just wrapped up a community meeting April 27 at Narrow Lane Baptist Church. Exford and two others were standing in the parking lot when they heard what sounded like firecrackers. They saw flashes and then heard the unmistakable sound of rapid gunfire.

Exford and the two other community members hit the ground and tried to get under their cars the best they could. She could hear bullets whistle above her head. Exford called 911. The gunfire lasted for what felt like an eternity, she said.

She and her neighbors later described the experience to the city council and begged for help from the people of Montgomery.

“What we want the public to understand is ... once the bullet leaves the chamber it has no address. We don’t know where it’s going to end up," Exford said.

More: Previous Coverage From nextdoor.com to City Hall, Montgomery neighbors gripe about police response times

Alex Gladden is the Montgomery Advertiser's public safety reporter. She can be reached at agladden@gannett.com or on Twitter @gladlyalex.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Wave of violence: Shootings terrify neighbors across Montgomery