‘Wrong place at the wrong time’: Family of shooting victim seeks answers

COLUMBUS, Ga. (WTVM) - Two deadly shootings happened in the Fountain City overnight Friday killing two women.

Investigators responded to Brown Avenue before midnight Friday.

Muscogee County Coroner Buddy Bryan confirms 39-year-old Natalie Bell was shot and taken to Piedmont Hospital with multiple gunshot wounds - later dying from her injuries.

Bryan also confirms 63-year-old Sharon Johnson was shot and killed at her home on Joy Road.

Today we spoke with the mother of Natalie Bell - or as many called her “Bre.”

She tells News Leader 9 that her daughter was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time - at a convenience store when a young male was attempting to steal from the store, then shot her - ultimately taking the mother of five’s life.

“Put this guns down,” said Janie Bell, Bre’s mother. “I please ask to please take these guns... Mr. Kemp, please take these guns. Take them off the street. And I would like for the Blacks to stop saying, ‘Black Lives Matter.’ Everybody’s life matters. But the way y’all doing now, with all these guns, Black lives don’t matter. If you look around, all these killings are Blacks. We’re just killing each other. For what? Why not get into a church? Put your hand on a bible and pray. Stop killing, love each other. That’s what God wants. But at the end of the day, two families lose. The ones that die, and the ones that go to jail.”

“We failed as parents in the homes, we fail as community leaders, we as a nation has failed. We failed because we do not take gun violence serious,” said Sam Brown.

No suspects have been arrested in this case. If you have any information, contact the Columbus Police Department.

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