ROBESON COUNTY, NC (WBTW) – While Robeson County often appears near the top of the FBI crime report rankings, the violence of 2014 was unusual for the area.
“I didn’t think it would come to this point that you have to look behind you everywhere you go,” said Mr. Hammonds, who chose not to disclose his first name.
Mr. Hammonds has lived in Robeson County his entire life.
“The crime in this area is a little bit high, different than what it used to be years ago,” Hammonds said.
Robeson County Sheriff Kenneth Sealey says the normal average of homicides in Robeson County range from 20 to 25 each year.
In 2014, there were 859 violent crimes per 100,000 people in Robeson County and 5,985 property crimes, both up from last year’s FBI crime report.
To break down those numbers the Robeson County Sheriff’s office investigated 34 homicides in 2014, that’s double the amount from 2013, many of which involved drugs and arguments that turned violent.
It’s something Mr. Hammonds experienced around this time last year.
“They jumped me in the yard at my own house. When somebody have a gun on you the only thing you can do is just pray and hope they go away, and they did,” Hammonds said.
And he prays those doing these crimes can find peace within themselves.
“Other people have this education, they work, they get what they want then somebody else come in and take what they have worked for, get that education, go to college and do something in your life besides getting killed out here every day,” explained Hammonds.
So far this year, Robeson County authorities investigated 30 suspicious deaths.
That includes three bodies found and two manslaughter cases, in addition to murder investigations.
The Robeson County Sheriff’s office launched a violent crime task force earlier this year to get guns and drugs off the streets.
