AUSTELL, Ga. — Some Cobb County families say they feel so unsafe at their apartment complex, that they want to break their leases.
Now a recent shooting has made it even worse.
Channel 2 Cobb County Bureau Chief Michele Newell started digging into the situation and learned that police have been called to the Alta Mill apartment complex in Austell more than 100 times this year.
Newell pulled numerous police reports from the Cobb County Police Department for calls to the complex.
In October alone, there were reports for charges that include battery, aggravated assault, criminal trespass, damage to property, and more.
Newell also got statistics from the Cobb County 911 Center where she learned that police have been called to the complex 142 times this year, for various incidents ranging from illegal parking, alarms, traffic accidents, noise complaints, threats, and vandalism.
Kristen Pounds is one of those people who says she feels unsafe in her own home.
Over the weekend, Pounds said she had to grab her two small children and hide in the closet of their home, as violence took over part of her neighborhood.
“It was very scary for me and my little ones,” Pounds said.
Police responded to a shooting at the complex on Sunday.
“Did you hear the gunshots?” Newell asked Pounds.
“Yes,” Pounds answered. “Probably six or seven.”
Investigators say two people were shot during an altercation.
“How close was the shooting?” Newell asked Pounds.
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“It was literally right over there in that building. So, I was hearing everything as they were running across the street,” Pounds said, pointing out where everything happened.
Pounds said violence has become a problem.
“Probably every week. I see the police here every single week,” Pounds said.
Pounds and her neighbors told Newell they didn’t feel safe and wanted to break their lease.
“They pretty much told me if I wanted to leave it would be an early termination cost even though there was a major crime beside my apartment,” Pounds said.
Newell asked Alison Johnson with the Housing Justice League what families can do when they are faced with situations like this.
“We work with tenants in these situations. We work with them and organize them to make sure they are using their voices to have changes made,” Johnson said.
Newell also contacted the apartment complex about the problems, but so far she has not gotten a response.
There is a law in the state of Georgia that allows victims of stalking and domestic violence to break their lease without a penalty, but overall there are few tenant protections in Georgia.
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