Smiley Court Residents React to Deadly Shooting
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Montgomery police continue to investigate a shooting that’s left one man dead and three others seriously injured. It happened in the Smiley Court neighborhood Sunday night. We went back to the area today, where residents are still shaken up about the violence.
Smiley Court hosted a Memorial Day weekend neighborhood reunion on Sunday. It’s something they do every year. And residents tell me it was all fun and games until someone opened fire.
This is Smiley Court Monday. The streets are empty and the neighborhood is calm. It’s a far cry from Sunday evening, when gun shots sent residents who were celebrating a neighborhood reunion scrambling for safety.
“I just heard a bunch of shooting and people running,” said Lucy Tellis.
Tellis is the neighborhood president and says those who don’t live in Smiley Court are giving the neighborhood a black eye.
“Everything was good until these vigilantes, young people, decided that they want to come in and destroy our happiness, something that they didn’t have.”
It’s something we heard over and over again from residents, that outsiders are ruining Smiley Court.
“At the end of the day, they still want to bring they problems out here,” said another resident, who goes by the nickname ‘Kid’. “They still want to bring they’re beef, or whatever they want to call it, right out here when we’re trying to have a reunion. Don’t take away our reunion.”
“I’m tired of it and I’m sick of it,” said resident Oddie Cox.
Cox has lived in Smiley Court for 13 years and says Sunday’s shooting hit close to home.
“One of the boys who got killed, I raised him. He stayed right here. Mae Mae.”
She says she wants more cameras and a security gate installed in the neighborhood. Though others say that may not solve the problem.
“I feel I ain’t safe,” says YT. “I feel like the police don’t do they’re job and I feel like I got to protect myself so I feel like I should have a right to carry me a pistol and be able to fire back at somebody if they shooting at me because I value life.”
They label us bad,” said resident Jay Blade. “But the people that did that ain’t even from out here, you know what I’m saying? All these shootings, all these innocent people out here.”
