THOMASVILLE — “Right on” was the response from someone in the Monday Thomasville City Council meeting audience after a speaker expressed concerns about violence in the city.

Keith Thomas told the council people need to join forces and talk to young people about becoming productive citizens.

Police need to interact with children, he said.

Thomas said the crack cocaine era has been replaced by opioids — a situation that must be brought under control.

“We need to help these young kids,” said Thomas, who has three sons and a nephew in the military.

Shots were fired at a Wright Street residence last week, and a bullet struck someone. The suspect surrendered to authorities the next day.

Another bullet fired in the incident struck nearby Hatcher-Peoples Funeral Home. Funeral home owner Ben Hatcher said he and others left the business about 20 minutes before the shooting.

“In reality, it’s all over the country,” said Hatcher, a former two-term Thomasville mayor pro tem.

Pointing out a sixth-grader was caught at a local school with a BB gun in his waist band last week, Hatcher said, “I just don’t see it stopping with all the guns and criminals with guns.”

Cutting and stabbing weapons have been replaced with firearms, he said.

“It’s sad. I’m very depressed about it,” Hatcher added.

In 2017, Thomasville Police Department responded to 13 aggravated assaults. The number increased to 17 in 2018.

Chief Troy Rich said the incidents include shootings and any other act that results in serious bodily injury from stabbings and being struck over the head with a bottle.

Based on shooting investigations, Rich said, the incidents usually result from some type of retaliation in an ongoing dispute or involve illegal activity, such as a card game where gambling and drug or alcohol use are preset. Incidents are random and isolated, he added.

“There’s not a violent offender out there searching and harming people they have no knowledge of. These offenders know each other,” the chief said.

All individuals involved in the crimes are arrested and charged appropriately, Rich said.

People purchase firearms from people on the street and from legal gun merchants, and some are stolen, said Capt. Maurice Holmes, TPD Criminal Investigation Division commander.

Rich said police have a presence in neighborhoods. A minimum of five officers are on patrol and on streets around the clock, he said

“People are taking matters into their own hands to resolve ongoing issues, and it is resulting in violence to resolve the issues,” the chief said.

Senior reporter Patti Dozier can be reached at (229) 226-2400, ext. 1820