WTOC Exclusive: Mayor Johnson responds to youth violence in Savannah

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) -Police have arrested a juvenile in connection with a fatal shooting that killed an adult woman in broad daylight Thursday in east Savannah.

Savannah police responded to a fatal shooting Thursday afternoon and found an adult woman suffering from multiple gunshot wounds in the 1800 block of Northgate Drive in east Savannah. She died at the scene. Police later arrested a juvenile near the scene of the shooting.

The suspect is being held at Savannah Regional Youth Detention Center and is charged with murder.

Mayor addresses juvenile crime challenge

Mayor Van Johnson said juvenile crime is a challenge for the city that cannot be solved by the city alone.

“Well it’s a challenge, it’s a challenge for us. The city of Savannah is not responsible for raising people’s kids, and this has become an issue,” Johnson said.

Johnson said the issue is fueled by kids and teens having access to guns. It is illegal for someone under the age of eighteen to possess a firearm.

“They are playing adult games, very very dangerous games. And unfortunately for us there have been some very very deadly circumstances,” he said.

The mayor said the city has tried to address gun access among minors.

“Despite our best efforts to kind of curtail the possession of guns by those who should not have them and try to cut of the pipeline by which they obtain those guns, you have a very very strange and very very dangerous connection,” Johnson said.

City programs aim to help at-risk youth

The city offers programs to help engage at-risk youth. Organizations such as the Front Porch or the Savannah Impact Program aim to provide safe spaces for juveniles to seek mentorship and develop life skills.

“We have enough resources here that if there is a young person in trouble we can help, but we can’t help what we don’t know,” Johnson said.

While the city has preventative measures in place, Johnson said the issue of youth violence cannot be curbed without a community response.

“My goal would be to hopefully prevent these things from happening in the first place, but we can’t do it by ourselves,” he said. “For us to be able to raise someone’s child, that’s not our responsibility. We need parents to do what parents do we need villages to do what villages do.”