Authorities report 3 fatal shootings in 12 hours Saturday in Columbus, Phenix City
Local authorities reported three homicides in Columbus and Phenix City within hours of each other over the weekend.
Columbus police were called to the first one at 12:40 a.m. Saturday, when officers responded to reports of a shooting and car crash at North Lumpkin Road and 28th Avenue.
They found a car had struck a utility pole and a chain link fence at 2744 N. Lumpkin Road. The driver, 24-year-old Antonio Williams, was rushed to the Piedmont Columbus Regional emergency room with a gunshot wound, and pronounced dead there at 1:32 a.m.
Anyone with information on Williams’ shooting is asked to contact Sgt. Donna Baker at 706-225-4296 or dbaker@columbusga.org.
Columbus police next were called at 4:43 a.m. to a shooting at Garden Drive and 25th Avenue, where they found 20-year-old Travone Walton with a gunshot wound, they said.
Medics with the Columbus Department of Fire and Emergency Medical Services were unable to revive Walton, who was pronounced dead at 5:30 a.m.
Anyone with information on Walton’s death is asked to contact Sgt. Jeff Kraus at 706-225-4374 or dkraus@columbusga.org.
The third homicide happened in Phenix City, where police at 12:30 p.m. responded to a shooting reported at the corner of 10th Avenue South and 4th Place South.
That’s where officers found 35-year-old Lamar Dontaye Whittaker lying against the curb next to a car that had broken down, police said. Whitaker was dead from a gunshot wound.
Witnesses said another man had walked up to the vehicle, fired several shots and fled.
Russell County Coroner Arthur Sumbry pronounced Whittaker dead at the scene.
Anyone with tips on Whittaker’s shooting is asked to call Phenix City police at 334-298-0611 or 334-448-2835.