Three teens have been shot at a Macon food mart in the past month. A judge shut it down
In the wake of two shooting incidents in the past month that resulted in the deaths of three teenagers at a Houston Avenue convenience store, a Bibb County judge on Tuesday ordered the store’s temporary closure.
County officials, in a court filing earlier in the day, contended that the store, Friends Food Mart, is a public nuisance and a hub for nefarious activity.
The judge’s order came less than 18 hours after a confrontation inside the store Monday night led to an exchange of gunfire in which two 19-year-old men whipped out guns and killed one other.
On May 9, another youth, a 16-year-old boy, was shot to death outside the store, which sits at the corner of Houston and Heard avenues across from the sprawling Pendleton Homes public housing complex.
In a news release announcing the store’s closure, county officials said the 30-day order requires the store to cease operations and that a hearing on the matter was set for June 29.
“The complaint was filed because the business is a well-known center of frequent serious criminal activity, including violent offenses and drug activity,” the news release said. “(The sheriff’s office) regularly patrols the area due to the amount of illegal drug, violent, and gang-related activities, devoting substantial public resources, attention, patrols, time, and operations to (the store).
“Multiple reports confirm substantial criminal and drug-related activity is regularly conducted on or about the property. More than 20 relevant incident reports from 2020 to present were filed with the complaint.”
Mayor Lester Miller said in the statement that “families and friends are in mourning today, and others were mourning a month ago when another young man was killed here.”
The measure to shutter — at least temporarily — establishments where violent episodes recur has been a legal avenue used in recent years by county officials.
Last July, in the aftermath of a shooting that left two young men dead and two other people wounded, the Thirsty Turtle nightclub in downtown Macon was stripped of its alcohol license for three months. It later closed.
The county has filed multiple nuisance lawsuits against local motels as well, citing unusually large emergency call volumes emanating from those locations.