Mayor Leonardo Williams calls on City Council to do more in wake of Durham shootings

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) -- A spree of gun violence in Durham has the newly elected mayor expressing frustration and pushing for solutions.

On Friday, a man was shot at the Village Shopping Center at Miami Boulevard and Holloway Street.

On Thursday night, a man was shot in a drive-by while walking on Chautauqua Avenue near Fayetteville Street.

On Thursday morning, shots were fired outside a parking deck on the American Tobacco Campus. Nobody was injured in that shooting but a vehicle was damaged.

These acts of gun violence have Mayor Leonardo Williams speaking up.

He blamed the violence on a lack of action taken by the City Council regarding policy. He said one of those areas is in the same zone as ShotSpotter. However, the city opted to not move forward with its ShotSpotter contract.

SEE ALSO | Violent crime down, property crime up as Durham considered renewing ShotSpotter contract

He said that is retreating on resources that he feels would assist police in their response.

ABC11 reached out to several city council members for comment but have not heard back.

According to the ABC11 neighborhood safety tracker, the East Durham neighborhood has a higher murder rate than citywide. In the last 12 months, there have been 18 homicides in East Durham.

The Village Shopping Center has been the place of several shootings in the past two years. Five people were shot on New Year's Day, and last August, three other people were shot in the same year in a separate shooting by the Maxway.

"I'm at a loss for words because it's never going to stop," Johnathan Burwell said. "I don't feel safe nowhere to be honest with you. I still got to go to work, I still got to take care of my family, so that's just the risk that I take."

Ashley Covington, who's lived in the Bull City all her life, said there needs to be change.

"I'm concerned for the children of this generation that we're bringing up in is not good," Covington said. "I'm concerned about their future and just the gun violence has gotten out of hand."