BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) -- It has been a week since a mass shooting claimed the lives of four people and left 17 others injured in Birmingham’s Five Points South neighborhood.
Five points south was a ghost town this weekend. CBS 42 saw a very limited number of people on the sidewalks and heading into businesses. That’s something business owners say has been the new normal since the shooting.
“It’s been down so bad, we see nobody. Normally weekends are our busiest time for us, we see lines,” said Yaqob Alshaga.
Alshaga owns the Five points market, he says crime has a problem in the area for a while.
“A weekend before the shooting happened, we was calling the police we got a guy who came over here, we had a customer, a UAB student, somebody grabbed her iPad and run away,” said Alshaga.
Alshaga says his employees called the police, but had trouble getting a response to the area.
“They call us after 2 hours and say, 'We are not able to come because we are busy, can you cancel your call?'” Alshaga added. “We don’t feel safe most of the time.”
Ahmed Sherbini, who owns Mr. Sharwma, says the area needs foot patrols by officers on weekend nights.
“In my opinion there just needs to be more police presence. I have seen patrol cars in the area heavy ever since the incident, but just officers walking around, no, that would be much nicer. You would feel much safer,” remarked Sherbini.
Every business CBS 42 spoke with in Five Points South said they are experiencing a drop is customers since the shooting. Some have added security guards, and others are limiting their hours so their employees do not have to be out as late.