Residents in the Eastside community are calling action for more Officer Patrols

CHARLESTON S.C (WCBD)– A Friday evening incident that left two injured has some Eastside community members concerned about safety in the area.

Some Eastside community members are pressing the Charleston police department for more patrols as they say the neighborhood is getting dangerous. The Charleston police department is investigating the area after a Friday night shooting and stabbing near Reid Street, leaving two people injured.

“I can’t give you a lot of information right now. It’s still an active investigation, although the incident that occurred over the weekend that incident involved folks that knew each other, it’s not a random act of violence,” said Andre Jenkins, captain of investigations for Charleston Police Department.

No arrests have been made, but the incident sparked concern among community members. One property owner in the area says he believes much of the violence stems from people loitering and drinking near a neighborhood convenience store.

“The market sells beer and liquor, and folks get a little carried away. It’s just a lot of access to alcohol that’s right here in the neighborhood, and it just leads to problems. People drink too much and act out,” said Jay Conroy, an Owner of Real-Estate in the Eastside community.

The Charleston police department said they hear the residents’ concerns and are implementing innovative solutions to keep the community safe.

“We just got a smart policing grant from the BGA for a significant amount of money that will bring in some more training for the police department but also improve our data collection so we can take a look at these things when we’re looking at trends in crime we want to go where the complaints are telling us to go or where the data is telling us to go,” said Dustin Thompson Deputy Chief of Charleston Police Department.

The Charleston police department said this is an ongoing investigation and will release updates once more information comes in.