Street racing in Africatown: Pastor says community 'at wit's end' after shooting

Street racing in Africatown: Pastor says community ‘at wit’s end’ after shooting

Updated: Aug. 29, 2024, 2:13 p.m.|Published: Aug. 29, 2024, 8:51 a.m.


Skid marks on Paper Mill Road in the historic Africatown community of Mobile, Ala., as pictured on Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2024. The road is the site of a shooting on Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024, injuring six people. The shooting occurred during a street race, something which residents in the community are concerned about and are calling Mobile police to crack down on.John Sharp

By John Sharp | jsharp@al.com

Frustration is growing over illegal street racing that exploded early Sunday after six people were shot in the historic community of Africatown.

But Mobile police say that before Sunday, they had no idea street racing was a concern along Paper Mill Road -- a main thoroughfare along Africatown’s east side that traverses past heavy industrial plants along the Mobile River north of downtown Mobile.

Six people suffered non-life-threatening injuries following the racing that occurred around 12:30 a.m. along Paper Mill Road at McKinley Street -- one of the key entrances into a community that has, in recent years, experienced plenty of public attention with millions of dollars invested into it to highlight Africatown’s founding by the survivors of the slave ship Clotilda following the Civil War.

{snip}