Georgia Southern students react to violence near campus

STATESBORO, Ga (WSAV)– There are tens of thousands of students at Georgia Southern, and many of them live off campus at places like Copper Beech, the apartment complex where a Statesboro officer was shot in the line of duty Tuesday night.

“It’s actually crazy…Especially the fact that he shot the cop,” Kodi Austin, a Georgia Southern student, said.

Copper Beech was flooded with police cars Tuesday night after an officer was shot in an attempted carjacking.

Several students say they could hear shots ring out from inside their homes.

“It kinda started randomly. I was sitting there playing games with my friends, and something didn’t sound like a video game. So, I took my headset off, and they were letting off a few rounds,” GS student Adrian Castro said. “It was going on for like a decent 30 seconds to the point where I was like, what is going on. My dogs, I couldn’t get them to come out of hiding from where they were. It was just…It was bad.”

After something like this, many of them say they feel shaken up.

“To find out it was right next door was like yeah…scary,” Castro continued.

However, many said they’re not necessarily surprised, just concerned for their loved ones.

“It’s not really too much of a shock. I was more worried about my girlfriend because she lives here, and it was near where her apartment was. But she said they caught the guy and everything, so I was a little less worried after that,” Sean Whatley, another GS student said.

Several went so far as to call violent incidents like this a regular occurrence.

“I’d probably say every other two weeks there’s some shooting. You hear a gunshot, and I hear it. And then they send us an email,” Austin said.

There are several documented incidents in the area.

Just three months ago, a home intruder was shot and injured at the Vault, an apartment complex just across the street from Copper Beech.

Both complexes are part of a cluster of off campus housing that is primarily occupied by GS students right on the other side of Southern’s Paulson Stadium, which is often packed with crowds attending sporting events.

We asked students if they’re worried about more carjackings or worse crimes in the future.

They simply said they wish their peers wouldn’t turn to crime at all.

“Just do your schoolwork. There’s other ways to make money…A lot of other ways to make money,” Austin said.

News 3 reached out to Georgia Southern to see if they were talking with students about the incident or offering any additional resources, but they have no comment at this time.