Is Peachtree Mall really that dangerous?

On the day that a fatal shooting occurred near the food court at Peachtree Mall, Amy Smith sat in the parking lot with her children.

“My husband was in the mall getting dinner for us when the shooting happened,” said Smith, reflecting back on the March 26 incident. “That just hit a little too close to home, and now we definitely think about the times that we go. We’ll go early in the mornings, not necessarily in the evenings, just to be safe.”

Smith, who shared the experience while shopping at Columbus Park Crossing, represents a growing number of local residents who perceive Peachtree Mall as a dangerous place in the wake of recent mall shootings. In interviews with the Ledger-Enquirer, many said they have avoided the mall in recent months because of what they believe to be an escalation of crime. And some said they prefer shopping at Columbus Park Crossing, The Landings and other shopping centers, where they feel safer.

Some in the community also believe Peachtree Mall, located at 3131 Manchester Expressway, has been stigmatized due to demographic shifts over the past few decades, which have moved white residents further north, leaving the mall with a predominantly black clientele.

‘Take back’ the city

Tonza Thomas, president of the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said more affluent black residents shopped at Peachtree Mall even when Columbus Square Mall, the city’s first indoor mall, existed on Macon Road, where the public library now sits. Once Columbus Square Mall closed in 2002, the percentage of black shoppers at Peachtree Mall increased, Thomas said, and some in the community began associating the mall with crime even before the latest spate of violence.

For many local residents, the scenario is reminiscent of the situation at Columbus Square Mall before it was demolished in 2002. The mall had developed a negative reputation based on what some perceived to be an increase in crime.

Gayle Gibson, 62, said Columbus Square was a great place to shop before some people began shoplifting and robbing shoppers in the parking lot. She hopes Peachtree Mall doesn’t suffer the same fate, and she continues to shop there despite the recent shootings.

“It was the same with Columbus Square,” she said of the shifting demographics. “When you first came out there, it was a good mix of both (races), and now look at Columbus Square; it’s gone. We just can’t keep running from things. If we do that, we’ll never have anything. It just doesn’t make sense to me.”

Gibson said crime seems to be rampant throughout the city, not just at Peachtree Mall, and she’s not going to let fear stop her from shopping where she wants to shop.

“I think people need to take back their city,” she said. “We can’t just let these criminals run around, or before long we’ll all be stuck in our homes and ordering things online when we need it. I don’t agree with that at all.”

Ryan Carmona, 19, said he just graduated from basic training at Fort Benning, and military officials recently warned him and other privates to avoid the mall because of the recent shootings. He has six more weeks in the city and doesn’t plan to go.

The most recent shooting occurred on June 5 when a 22-year-old man broke into a shopper’s van before firing shots at him and two others in the mall parking lot, according to police. The suspect, Quatavious Randell Farley, allegedly forced his girlfriend to drive him away from the mall by holding her at gunpoint.

The following shootings also happened at Peachtree over the past four months:

▪  In late February, police investigated an apparent gunshot fired into the floor. Police believe a gun discharged in the pocket of a shopper.

▪  On March 4, a 16-year-old girl was shot in the back in an apparent dispute.

▪ On March 26, Anthony Meredith, 24, died of multiple gunshots wounds while shopping for an Easter dress for his daughter in what’s believed to be a gang-related killing. The incident occurred at the southwest entrance of the shopping center, just outside the food court.

The Ledger-Enquirer contacted Onassis Burress, the mall’s general manager, requesting an interview to discuss the recent shootings and the impact they’ve had on the mall’s image.

Burress responded by email with the following statement: “The safety and well-being of our visitors and employees at Peachtree Mall is our top priority. We work closely with the city and the Columbus police department. We constantly review and evaluate our security procedures to ensure the safety and well-being of everyone who walks through our doors. We generally do not discuss our security measures.”

The Numbers

But local police said the mall’s reputation has been marred by the incidents, based on perceptions, and not always reality.

“I think if you look on social media and you hear what people are saying, there’s definitely a concern about Peachtree Mall and the surrounding area,” said Maj. Gil Slouchick, of the CPD’s investigative services. But the notion that Peachtree Mall is less safe than other local shopping areas in Columbus is incorrect, he said.

“We’ve had a homicide at Peachtree Mall; we haven’t had any at the other shopping areas,” he said. “But the homicide at Peachtree Mall would have happened wherever this individual came across the victim.

“I mean, it just happened to be at Peachtree Mall. It would have been the same thing had they come across one another at a park somewhere. They don’t wake up and say, ‘Hey, I’m going to go to Peachtree Mall and commit a crime like this.’”

In fact, crime statistics provided by the Columbus Police Department show that crime at Peachtree Mall isn’t as rampant as it may appear — and Peachtree had less crime than other local shopping centers in 2015, which is the last year for which complete statistics are available.

The CPD provided the Ledger-Enquirer with the breakdown of Part One crimes at local shopping centers in 2015. The categories listed are homicide, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, larceny and motor vehicle theft.

In 2015, there were a total of 403 Part One crimes reported at Peachtree Mall, Columbus Park Crossing, Cross Country Plaza and The Landings Shopping Center combined. Of that number, 176 occurred at Columbus Park Crossing, 112 at The Landings, 74 at Cross Country Plaza, and 41 at Peachtree Mall, according to CPD records.

Accounting for 89 percent of the crime was larceny, which includes auto theft, theft by taking, theft by shoplifting and theft of lost or mislaid property. And 44 percent of those were at Columbus Park Crossing, located at 5550 Whittlesey Blvd.

“Anytime you have a retail area like Peachtree and the other shopping areas, you have instances of larceny,” said Slouchick. “Larceny goes up because people bring their vehicles there, they bring their property there, and they leave. People go to shop, not always aware of their surroundings.”

Here’s the breakdown of all Part One crimes committed at the four shopping areas in 2015:

▪  Larceny: 158 at Columbus Park Crossing, 96 at The Landings, 71 at Cross Country Plaza, and 36 at Peachtree Mall.

▪  Homicide: Zero at all four shopping centers.

▪  Rape: One at The Landings.

▪  Robbery: Three at The Landings, one at Columbus Park Crossing, one at Peachtree Mall.

▪  Aggravated Assault: Three at The Landings, one at Peachtree Mall.

▪  Burglary: Eight at Columbus Park Crossing; four at The Landings; two at Cross Country Plaza; and one at Peachtree Mall.

▪  Motor Vehicle Theft: Nine at Columbus Park Crossing; five at The Landings; two at Peachtree Mall and one at Cross Country Plaza.

So far in 2016, the four shopping centers have had at least 64 Part One crimes: 19 at Columbus Park Crossing, 18 at The Landings, 16 at Peachtree Mall, and 11 at Cross Country Plaza, according to statistics provided by the CPD.

However, the 44 larcenies, reported so far for 2016, include only incidents associated with auto entry, Slouchick said. Numbers for theft by taking, theft by shoplifting and theft of lost or mislaid property weren’t available because the CPD converted to a new record management system in March, and had problems retrieving the information.

Here’s the breakdown of crimes at the four shopping centers so far for 2016:

▪  Homicides: One at Peachtree Mall.

▪  Rape: Zero at all four shopping centers.

▪  Robbery: Four at The Landings.

▪  Aggravated Assault: Four at Peachtree, which includes the shooting incidents.

▪  Burglary: Four at Columbus Park Crossing; one at Peachtree; four at The Landings.

▪  Larceny: 14 at Columbus Park Crossing; 11 at Cross Country Plaza; 10 at Peachtree Mall, nine at The Landings.

▪  Motor Vehicle Theft: One at Columbus Park Crossing; and one at The Landings.

Repeating History

Hal Kirven’s great-grandfather, Joseph Albert Kirven, opened Kirven’s Department Store on Broadway in downtown Columbus in 1876. The business was later run by his grandfather, father and brother. The family saw the city’s shopping patterns shift from downtown to Macon Road, and then north to Peachtree Mall and other centers.

In 1975, Kirven’s Department Store opened another location at the Columbus Square Mall, which had opened in 1965 as one of the first indoor malls in Georgia. Hal Kirven remembers it being the city’s urban shopping area. In its heyday, the mall’s other anchor tenants included stores such as Sears and J.C. Penney. The mall also included many local boutiques, restaurants and a theater.

“It was always a mixed demographic out there,” said Kirven, when asked about the population. “But at the time it was more white-oriented.”

A demographic shift started as white residents moved farther north and black families replaced them in neighborhoods like East Wynnton, Kirven said. The mall remained vibrant for many years, but over time people began to associate it with gangs and violence.

Kirven said the image was based on fear rather than facts. “Crime was not really an issue,” he said. “I could remember rumors that there were people hiding under cars, reaching under there and slicing people. I don’t know where that rumor came from, but it never happened.”

When Peachtree Mall opened in 1975, the developers tried to convince Kirven’s Department Store to relocate there, he said, but the family decided to stay at Columbus Square because it was more established.

“And we were not real happy with the Peachtree Mall location,” he added. “It was at the next exit, and it should have been two exists away so both could survive. The businesses were fighting for the same population of people.”

Kirven said his family closed its original downtown store in 1987, and then pulled out of Columbus Square in 1993, mainly because there was no one in the younger generation prepared to carry on the business. Still, he wishes the city still had a mall like Columbus Square with more homegrown businesses.

“There are no independent stores anymore,” he said. “In Columbus Square, you had Kirven’s, you had Kiddie Shoppe (now located at The Shoppes at Bradley Park) — local stores that went out there. They brought flavor. Now, they are all the same chains. They have the same merchandise. They’re all imported because nothing is made in America anymore.”

Kirven said he believes the recent shootings at Peachtree Mall are drug related, but he’s not sure what the mall can do to solve the problem.

“People have a right to congregate. People have a right to be there. How do you stop it?” he asked. “Back in the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, people didn’t walk around with guns like this. It wasn’t a thing. If people didn’t like you, they might pull a knife out, or they might just hit somebody.”

Thomas, of the local NAACP, said black and white residents need to stand together to improve the quality of lives of young people prone to a life of violence.

“We heard just a couple of days ago that some of the programs from the Parks and Rec are about to be cut,” she said. “...And if you keep taking things away, then — of course — what they live, see and breathe on TV and on the radio, they’re going to act it out, because they have nothing else to do with their hyperactivity during this time.”

But it’s also about parents doing a better job raising their children, she added.

“You have to teach your children how to act when they leave your house,” she said. “But a lot of times parents are out there working hard and don’t know that their children are getting into different things until after the police call.”

This story was originally published June 11, 2016 at 2:41 PM with the headline "Is Peachtree Mall really that dangerous?."