Neighbors say aggressive booting behind deadly shooting at DeKalb apartment complex
Neighbors say a dispute about parking ended in a shooting that killed a DeKalb County man this weekend.
Channel 2’s Cory James went to the apartment complex on Peachwood Circle on Sunday, where one woman told him that she heard the altercation and then shots.
Kay Redmone said about six boots were placed on cars before the shooting. She said that after it happened, all of the boots were removed.
They think excessive parking enforcement is the reason a man lost his life.
“It was just pow, pow, pow,” Redmone said.
That’s when she started recording video on Saturday morning.
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Redmone said she heard two arguing before gunshots went off.
“The only thing I heard was, ‘Take the boot off right mother ******, now,’” Redmone said.
Dekalb County police have not said what may have led up to the shooting that officers say killed 47-year-old Kirwin Hinds.
However, some neighbors feel the vehicle booting at the gated complex is getting out of control and might have incited the violence.
“I feel like they’re booting people too much,” Redmone said. “I’ve lost a vehicle due to being booted over here.”
“They make it difficult because they like double and triple boot people sometimes,” another woman told James. “Nobody can really afford to pay $85 for a car that was already registered.”
James reached out to the apartment complex to raise those concerns and get answers, but so far, he has not heard back from anyone.
While people who live in the complex say no one deserved to lose their life, they are hoping management will consider scaling back parking enforcement to prevent escalating growing frustration.
“At the end of the day, he was just doing his job, and he didn’t come to a boot to lose his life,” Redmone said.
Two people have been arrested in the shooting. Otis Blakes, 33, is being charged with murder. Christopher Blakes, 28, has been charged with simple battery.
Hinds’ family is asking for privacy at this time.