AUGUSTA, Georgia. (WRDW / WAGT) – In the latest incident in a winter violence outbreak at CSRA, a man was shot dead at a motel on the edge of downtown Augusta, officials said.
Richmond County coroner Mark Bowen said Daytron Merriweather, 29, of Johnston, SC, was shot at least once and transported to University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 11:38 pm on Thursday.
The crime scene tape isolated much of the Budgetel at 954 Fifth St. early Friday morning, while Richmond County deputies investigated the shooting that was reported at 11:12 pm on Thursday.
Dispatchers said two shooting victims were taken to a hospital.
Bowen later confirmed that Merriweather had died and said that an autopsy was scheduled with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation laboratory.
Patrol cars with flashing blue lights lined the street in front of the motel. Yellow tape blocked the two-story buildings where the guest rooms were right after a garage outside the lobby.
The shooting comes just a few days after two more shootings with injuries in Augusta.
Tuesday night, a 61-year-old man who was shot in the right ankle in the forest near block 3600 of Brussels street by an unknown person. Also Tuesday night, a 46-year-old woman was injured in the upper chest in a shooting at 2224 Grand Blvd.
They were among a series of mostly non-fatal and apparently unrelated shootings across the CSRA:
- On January 29, a young man was injured in a shooting at Brickyard Village Apartments, 125 Springfield St. in Thomson.
- On January 28, a 71-year-old man was injured in a shootout at block 500 on Chesterfield Street, near Hampton Avenue in Aiken. A suspect was arrested.
- Just before 3 pm on January 26, a pregnant woman was shot in front of her home on Drayton Drive in Augusta. She gave birth after the shooting and she and the baby were fine.
- On the morning of January 25, two men were shot in an apparent roadside incident along Interstate 20, near Grovetown. One victim was stable and the other in critical condition after being transported to the Doctors Hospital. A truck driver was arrested.
- Also on January 25, a male victim was shot around 4 pm on Block 500 on Boy Scout Road in Augusta. The victim was conscious, but was unable to provide a description of the person who shot her.
- On the night of January 23, deputies responded to a filming at block 1600 on Olive Road in Augusta, where a male victim in a vehicle was shot in the leg. The authorities are looking for a suspect.
- On January 22, a man was injured in the leg in a shootout on 10th Avenue in Augusta.
- On the night of January 21, a shooting on Etterlee Road left Jerry L. Harden, 50, dead. The Richmond County Sheriff’s Office accused Alec Hadden of murder and possession of a firearm while committing a crime.
And although no one was shot, an armed robbery in North Augusta many residents are concerned. The assault took place Tuesday at the Greeneway trail, where two victims were approached by an armed man who demanded their phones and other valuables.
North Augusta police say this type of incident is rare in the community and they are telling people not to allow the incident to prevent them from leaving the Greeneway.
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