FORSYTH, Ga. — City of Forsyth Mayor Eric Wilson believes the deadly shooting on Friday doesn't mean Forsyth isn't a safe place.
"This is a safe community despite you know despite what happened today," Wilson said.
Friday's shooting was the first one in the city since 2022.
Two years ago on Jan. 2, there was a shooting at Wal-Mart. Mayor Wilson still considers Forsyth a safe community.
"What happened today is not usual for Forsyth. It's something that we don't normally see. Like I said one homicide is one too many. One violent crime is one too many. We want those numbers to be zero," Wilson said.
Forsyth has seen zeroes before. In 2021 and 2023, there were no homicides in the city of Forsyth.
Mayor Wilson believes it's because Forsyth's police department is proactive.
"I think the proactive policing where we have officers out in the neighborhood regularly patrolling, building relationships with people in the community, so that when something does happen or when they see something happening in their community, they feel at ease calling the police department," Wilson said.
Wilson said when something like this happens in a small town, there are benefits of having a tight-knit community.
"People say sometimes a small town are bad because everybody knows your business. Small towns can also be good because everyone knows your business. Means they care about you and they're concerned about their neighbors and I think that's something that Forsyth is distinct about. We do care about each other," Wilson said.
Still a lot of questions about what happened like what led up to the shooting and who was involved. We've reached out to law enforcement and will update this story when we learn more.