COLUMBUS, Ga. — Worry and concern for safety are still strong on many minds after Sunday’s shooting in the Peachtree Mall parking lot. The incident marks the third shooting at Peachtree Mall in just three months. Several people in Columbus are wondering how police are doing now to prevent crime.

Columbus Police, much like mall management, have not offered any specifics as far as the next steps in bumping up security or moving forward after the recent string of incidents. In the latest incident, 22-year-old Quatavious Farley was arrested in connection with the shooting that injured one person.

Zuleika Amin owns a barbershop across the street from Peachtree Mall. She set up shop three weeks ago, thinking the mall would draw a huge crowd of potential customers. But she didn’t expect Sunday’s actions to unfold as they did.

“It kind of made me a little frightened because I do have a kid,” Amin said. “And I’m very adamant about making sure he’s safe, especially when we go out and around the mall area.”

President and CEO of the Greater Columbus Chamber of Commerce Brian Anderson says he is hearing negative comments about the latest incident at Peachtree Mall.

“A lot of community people I’ve talked to in the last few days have concern about the fact that places that are supposed to be safe, some incidents have occurred,” Anderson said.

Anderson shared some suggestions he heard from the community, such as possibly placing more officers inside and outside the mall and upping mall security patrol.

“Putting an actual police precinct in the mall, that’s certainly a proactive response,” Anderson added. “The question is do you signal a bigger problem?”

Major J.D. Hawk says any large place where people gather, like a mall, church, or sporting event can harbor crime. He notes that there have been 28 crimes reported at the mall in the past six months. According to Hawk, most of those are comprised of car break-ins and obstructing an officer’s investigation. However, as far as action being taken toward making people feel safer, Maj. Hawk could not elaborate.

“They’re doing additional things that I can’t get into,” Maj. Hawk said.

Peachtree Mall management provided the following statement after the March 26 murder of Anthony Meredith, as well as Sunday’s shooting:

“The safety and well-being of our visitors and employees at Peachtree Mall is our top priority. We work closely with the city and the Columbus police department.  We constantly review and evaluate our security procedures to ensure the safety and well-being of everyone who walks through our doors. We generally do not discuss our security measures.”

– Onassis Burress, General Manager, Peachtree Mall