3 more suspects charged in Savannah shooting that injured 11

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Three more suspects in a shootout that injured 11 people in a public square in the heart of Savannah’s downtown historic district were arrested, police said Friday.

That brings to four the total number of people charged in the May 18 shootings. No one was killed, although police said 10 people were hit by gunfire and another person was injured by a broken car window. Police said all victims were treated at a hospital and later released.

Savannah Police Chief Lenny Gunther said a late-night argument between two women led to multiple gunmen opening fire in Ellis Square, located amid restaurants and bars in a nightlife district popular with tourists.

Samira Kenny, 29, Jordan Caleb Jones, 20, and Cazare Cooper, 19, were booked Thursday in connection with the Ellis Square shootings, police said in a statement. All were charged with aggravated assault – five counts for Kenny and four each for Jones and Cooper. All three were also charged with possession of a weapon during the commission of a felony.

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Cooper also faces a gun possession charge in an unrelated pending felony case in which he is also charged with theft and drug possession, according to Chatham County Superior Court records. They show Cooper was released from jail on $5,000 bail in January 2023.

Cooper’s attorney in that case, Chase Carnes, did not immediately return phone and email messages Friday.

There were no attorneys for Kenny or Jones listed in online jail and court records. The Associated Press could not find phone numbers that match the addresses listed for them in court documents.

Another suspect, 20-year-old William Anthony Mitchell, was arrested last week and charged with four counts of aggravated assault as well as possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

Mitchell was already facing felony charges of possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute in an unrelated pending case. Chatham County State Court records show he was released from jail after a judge granted him bond on April 18.

Mitchell’s attorney, Greg Crawford, declined to comment when reached by phone Friday.

The violence in Ellis Square marked the worst shooting in Georgia’s oldest city since June 2021, when someone inside a passing car opened fire on a crowd of people outside a Savannah apartment complex. One person was killed and seven were injured.